


Moth & Flame

by ChosenOfKagami



Series: PaPverse [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Chatlogs, Chatting & Messaging, Ghosts, Implied Kawanishi Taichi/Shirabu Kenjirou, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Magic, Magic-Users, Mentions of Ghost Phone Sex, Necromancy, Supernatural Elements, i can't believe i'm making the phone sex thing a tag but here we are
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-29
Updated: 2016-09-29
Packaged: 2018-08-16 14:21:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 33,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8105731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChosenOfKagami/pseuds/ChosenOfKagami
Summary: Semi Eita does not consider himself a lucky person, but that's not to say that his life is awful beyond belief.His apartment is decent enough, even though he can hardly tolerate his roommate's attitude at times.He managed to graduate from the academy, even though his grades weren't the best.He's pretty good at wind magic, even though using it conjures images he can't stand to look at.And, hey, he still has a nice phone......even though it's been possessed by a ghost.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time participating in any sort of fic event! It was a little stressful due to work and such, but I still had a lot of fun with it!
> 
> This work is actually a side-story for my iwaoi comic, [Pen & Petal](http://chosenofkagami.tumblr.com/pen-and-petal), but knowledge of that is not required whatsoever to enjoy this. It should work as a standalone just fine!

He was three when he decided he didn’t like bugs.

It was at a family gathering, while he played alone down in the grass with his toy robots and dinosaurs, and his older cousins played up in the branches of the town’s largest climbing tree. He was too invested in the waging war between automaton and reptile to notice the yelling, until a beehive was cracked apart on the floor five feet away and a swarm had him bolting for the park’s public bathrooms.

He’d made out with only a couple of stings to show. No allergic reactions. Just a few traumatic mental scars. By a three-year-old’s standards, anyway.

He was five when he opened his grandmother’s closet and found a box full of old clothes, all of them crawling with larvae. A moth had flown out and landed on his nose, and he screamed bloody murder and _swore_ to his mother that he’d gotten another bee sting.

He decided that the smell of mothballs was tolerable after that.

He was six when his dad got him an ant farm, and the thing stayed empty for weeks before it wound up in the trash.

Seven when his class took a trip to a butterfly garden, and he spent the entire tour clinging to his friend’s arm because he _“just didn’t want to get separated from the group.”_

Eight when the bug zapper on the porch finally broke, and he kept finding moths and creepy crawlies in his room at night. He slept with a can of insect repellent on his nightstand.

Nine when he saw a moth so big it could eat him alive, hovering over his bed, translucent and shimmering in the dim light of the window, but all of his friends told him he just had a wild imagination.

But he didn’t think he was _that_ creative, and there was nothing else he could have possibly mistaken for that pair of giant, glowing wings that stretched across his room, or that fuzzy head and the long antennas.

 

He was ten when his family took him on his first trip outside of Japan.

 

He was ten when he learned of _magic._

 

Their destination was a place called Voli, and he didn’t quite understand what was going on at the beginning of it all.

First, his parents took him to a restaurant. They never sat down to eat, never even picked up a menu. Instead, they walked straight past the other diners, and were led by a friendly-looking waitress down a flight of stairs. What they found at the bottom was a series of pretty glass shards hanging from the ceiling by strings at different heights. He’d been thinking that he wanted to go back upstairs, because the food _did_ smell really good, when the waitress drew out a thin stick from her apron, whispered some elegant and foreign-sounding words, and threads of light began to draw out from and connect the pieces of glass.

And then, there was one, single light, and like a door, his parents led him by the hand through it.

He thought of some of the cartoons and movies he’d watched on the living room couch with his friends, like the one where the girl wanders into the creepy bathhouse, or that one where the kid meets a big hairy man who takes him to a magic school.

Luckily, his parents didn’t get turned into pigs for taking him here, like in the bathhouse movie, though he was starting to think maybe it was best that they _didn’t_ eat any of the food back in that restaurant. There weren’t any particularly large or hairy men in sight, either.

There were, however, lots of other things that he wasn’t used to seeing in everyday life.

A kid about his age walking a large lizard, for example. He’d realize later that it wasn’t large at all, and was actually more on the small side for a baby _dragon._

His parents showed him big, fancy buildings and parks and historical points of interest that were only interesting to his ten-year-old brain because _magic_. They stayed at a hotel that had moving staircases. He wanted to run up and down them, even though his mom assured him that was probably a bad idea. He also wanted about twenty more of whatever those complimentary candies they left on their pillows were, because they definitely weren’t made with anything they had back home.

But between all of the excitement with moving stairs and dragons, and the unicorn he got to ride at the petting zoo, he was overwhelmed by this magical world that his parents knew about and never bothered to share with him until now. He was even more overwhelmed when they told him that it was in this world, in Voli, that they met and fell in love in (gross).

They were in school at the time they met. In school, in this magic world, learning magical things, at some big fancy magical place.

A place that they’d take him to tour during their stay.

He would be eighteen when he’d attend that same place.

But first, he was twelve, and he saw the giant moth again. This time, he told his parents instead of his friends.

He was twelve when he found out just what sort of magic he’d be learning.

There were, apparently a lot of different ways to use magic. There were the generic charms and things that anyone could learn, but then there were more powerful types. Types that you had to be born with.

He’d expected to have something, because his family had _apparently_ lived in this magical world, so surely he’d get whatever sort of amazing powers they’d had.

From what his parents had told him, he’d understood that most people were stronger in certain areas of magic than others. Some in the defensive, some in the offensive. Some in healing, some in the elements. Some people required specific items outside of wands to unlock their utmost potential with these spells. Some used ink, some used strings of beads, and some even used music to perform their magic.

The people who didn’t need these things would just use a regular (as far as regular went in this case) old wand, but their magic would take on different forms, different symbols that strengthened their specialties, depending on the individual. Both of his parents had this kind of magic, his father’s in the form of healing spells that took shape of translucent, ghost-like peonies, and his mother’s in the form of bright yellow, but still ghostly, gems that crackled and struck their targets like lightning.

So, when he was twelve, he discovered that he’d had the great luck of obtaining a similar sort of magic. It appeared in a gust of wind, in the form of a _goddamned moth._

He would refuse to use magic just to avoid the presence of a giant bug for about a year, before his parents were finally able to coax him into practice.

He was fourteen when his parents began to homeschool him. Balancing two different educations, magical and not, was quickly growing stressful, and he wasn’t that great of a student to begin with.

At eighteen he was enrolled in The Blue Vine Academy of Magic, and he quickly learned that living away from home would’ve been stressful enough without all of the goddamned magical crap involved.

The list of said magical crap was a long one in itself, involving a roommate trying to smuggle in some kind of swamp creature despite the No Pets Allowed dorm rule, and plenty of nearly-burned-down buildings thanks to unsafe potions practice, among other things.

 

But now, he’s twenty-two, hardly over a year out of the academy, and Semi Eita still thinks bugs are annoying as hell. He’s also beginning to think that school life was a _cakewalk_ compared to whatever bullshit he’s witnessing right now.

His work partner is nowhere in sight. He hasn’t seen him for over an hour now, and there’s some tall figure in a cloak standing in the bed of flowers they were supposed to be collecting ingredients from. The flowers are all dead now, and the person standing in them is honestly one of the most cliché figures he’s ever seen, with that stupid cloak and all, but neither of those things are striking Semi as particularly important at the moment. Probably because of the mildly concerning smears of blood all over the alley’s cobblestone floor. Oh, and the limp body the person’s carrying over their shoulder. That’s a little worrying, too.

He’s at a bit of a loss. This wasn’t some kind of rescue mission. They were just supposed to collect some leaves, get paid, get some takeout for dinner, and call it a day.

He’s not really sure if he should just be sitting idly on his ass, watching in horror as this cloaked whoever withdraws a few pieces of glass and begins to form a portal right in front of him.

Trying to save the cloaked person’s captive would be the noble thing to do. Assuming the captive is actually alive and not just a corpse at this point.

Running sounds like a good plan, too. Also probably the smarter option.

He doesn’t have the time to make a decision, not when someone else’s hand is grabbing him by the shoulder and yanking him back. He falls and knocks his head on the stone ground. It’s not enough to render him unconscious, even if he thinks otherwise for a brief moment when the light of the mysterious figure’s portal floods his vision.

The light vanishes just as quickly, blinking out in a thin line like an old TV screen powering off. Semi finds himself on his back, staring up at a cloudy gray sky, wondering what his life has come to that he can’t even successfully collect some _leaves_ without all hell breaking loose.

 _“What_ was that?” comes the voice that he’d been searching for for the past hour.

He tilts his head back a little more, just shy of arching his back to get a look at his work partner sitting behind him. The guy’s staring off at where the figure was, and somehow his awkwardly angled bangs look even more stupid from where Semi’s watching. His partner’s had the same haircut and pale brown dye job since they’d met at the academy.

“Another reminder that our luck gets shittier with every job.”

The other blinks down at him, then gets to his feet and starts ahead to where the blood is staining the ground.

Semi sits himself up and rubs the back of his head, watching with one eye open and the beginnings of a headache. “The only other place that grows those things is four districts from here. Even with a portal, it’d take us all night.”

His partner makes a small noise of acknowledgement, and continues to inspect the trampled plants anyway.

“Where the hell did you go, anyway? I look down to check the GPS for two seconds, and you’re up and gone on me already.” He feels his pocket for said phone, but it’s not there. He frowns and twists his body every-which-way in search of the thing. It’s laying on the floor a ways off, and his wand is a few feet away from that. He goes to the phone first, worried that it might be cracked or completely broken. He sighs when he picks it up, relieved that it seems to be fine. He looks back to the flower bed with a pout after. “Are you even listening, Shirabu?”

“We can still use some of these,” Shirabu says, plucking what few leaves are apparently useable and dropping them into a small plastic baggy. Semi’s glad they just look like regular leaves, and nothing suspicious. Getting stopped for drugs on the way back is about the last thing they need on top of this.

“That’s great. That guy just dragged a body off with him.”

“Yeah.”

“There’s blood. Everywhere. I think you stepped in some.”

Shirabu looks down as he kicks up a shoe, as if that’s really the most pressing matter here.

_“Shirabu.”_

Shirabu zips the bag shut and looks across the alley at Semi, exhausted. “I’m trying not to think about it. Whatever just happened? It has nothing to do with us. We can report it when we get back to HQ, but I really just want to _go home.”_

Semi stuffs his phone into his pocket, reclaims his wand, and scans the area for anything else he could have possibly dropped. “Yeah, sure, fine. So where _did_ you go?” he asks, noting that a pack of gum was the only other thing missing from his pockets, and it’s landed in some blood. Now he’ll have to get more on the way home. Great.

“Confirming that rumor Ushijima-san mentioned. Someone said there was another spot around here with these flowers, but I didn’t see any. Four districts off really is our only bet, now,” Shirabu looks miffed when he says this. He’s not about to stay up until five AM for some leaves. “I _did_ bring it up. I told you to wait while I checked it out. You were probably too distracted by your phone.”

“I was following the map,” Semi groaned and started the way he came, ignoring another splotch of blood on the floor. “Wasn’t there supposed to be someone guarding these flowers, anyway? They’re in such a weird location. You’d think that person would be around.”

Shirabu is following him now, holding the bag up and observing what few leaves they’ve gathered. “They only grow when certain conditions are met. Someone has to die a certain way, at a certain time, and the seeds will sprout where the corpse had been.” He’s not about to go into a full text-book explanation on the things, though.

“That’s morbid as hell.”

“It is. Ironically, they’re good for healing potions.” He lowers the bag, and gently tucks it into the messenger sack at his side. “But you’re right. There was supposed to be someone guarding them. They’re rare, so they’re protected at all times. We were supposed to have to show our IDs to claim them, but….”

“You just picked what you could. Now we’re probably going to get arrested for theft if the guy does show up.”

Shirabu shrugs. “He knew we were coming.” Then he’s quiet for a moment, and the pause is one that Semi recognizes. He doesn’t know _how_ hell can tell without even looking at him, but there’s a difference between Shirabu simply ending a statement, and Shirabu considering something important. His suspicions are confirmed when he says, “The person they were carrying might have _been_ the guard.”

It seems a little obvious, now that he thinks about it, but then, Shirabu always was quicker to analyze a situation than him. The little shit.

They make it to headquarters with, thankfully, less issues. It’s a big, towering building with too many floors and too many wings. It always reminds Semi of the hospitals back in the human realm. Specifically human realm hospitals, because the hospitals in Voli always have more of a friendlier, dome-shape to them.

Whereas this is just a big box of boring, as far as the outside is concerned.

The inside, a little less. There are witches running from one hall to another, most of them carrying sacks and boxes of miscellaneous ingredients. Most of them are wearing attire that screams they work here, all flashy scarves and capes and hats and whatnot. Semi sticks out a little in his not-so-flashy ripped jeans and jacket, and the most Shirabu has going on are a few oversized pendants and bracelets.

He sees a short girl with blonde hair trip and drop a box of toadstools, but a taller woman with glasses stops to help her. He vaguely recognizes them from the academy, but that goes for most of the people who work at The Spells and Charms Collection Agency.

It’s common, especially straight out of a young witch’s studies. The company assigns you a partner, often determined by performance in school and teacher recommendations, then they send you out to gather whatever magical nonsense is in demand for the time being. Ingredients for potions, charms, you name it. Then they sell it to the people who are too lazy to gather the stuff themselves, or supply it to the schools.

And people eat at the convenience of it all. Business is _booming_. The agency is the most affordable in the realm, as far as quality resources go, and they deliver all over, so there’s never a shortage of jobs.

Of course, that also means there are a lot of _dumb_ jobs, and a lot of the high paying ones get nabbed up first thing in the morning when they’re posted on the boards. Collecting some leaves was supposed to be a dumb and easy job, up until Semi wandered into the alley and was blasted back by some mysterious cloaked person’s magic. Or, something like magic. It sure didn’t _feel_ like magic.

They make their way through the lobby, past the main desk and hall of job boards, until they reach a counter with a big sign hanging overhead that reads “Receiving.” The other side of the counter is sectioned off, save for the opening where a guy with short hair and snakebites is lounging behind.

The guy catches sight of them when they approach, and he outright _laughs_ when he sees the pathetic total of _four_ leaves in the bag that Shirabu produces.

The look on Shirabu’s face is sour, and Semi isn’t doing much better. The guy continues to laugh until Shirabu smacks the bag down onto the countertop. “This isn’t our fault, Daishou-san.”

“Yeah, sure. You guys ain’t gonna be able to afford dinner with what I can give you for _that.”_ Daishou tugs it out from beneath Shirabu’s palm anyway. “What happened? An alley cat scare you off or somethin’?”

“The guard was gone,” Semi says flatly, and Daishou’s amusement comes to a pause.

“No shit?”

“Or kidnapped. We think.” Shirabu steps back and slips his hands into his pockets. “Possibly murdered,” he adds. He only sounds _slightly_ nerved at the thought. “There was blood in the alley, and we saw someone carrying out a body.”

Daishou lowers the bag, eyes a little wider now. “Maybe. Uh. Call next time?”

Shirabu and Semi exchange glances, then look down at their feet.

Daishou sighs. “Cards,” he says, holding out a hand, and each of them hand him what look to be clear, plastic credit cards. Daishou hops out of his rolling chair, sending it back a few feet as he goes to toss the tiny bag into some kind of box in the back. When he returns, he hands the cards back to them, along with a clipboard and some receipts. “Sign off that you finished the job before you go to fill out an incident report.”

Semi takes the pen that’s chained to the clipboard, but he doesn’t get past tapping it to the paper before he sees the sum on the receipt. The pen is clattering to the desk a second later, and Semi has both hands on the counter when he leans over to invade Daishou’s space.

_“Are you fucking with us?!”_

Daishou steps back, hands up defensively. His eyes are narrowed and he almost looks _amused_ with Semi’s reaction. “Did you think I was _lying?”_ He gently pushes the clipboard back toward them with a finger. “I can’t give you any more than this for that shitty bag you brought in. Take it or leave it.”

“But it wasn’t our fault!” Semi’s raising his voice, just a little, and even though Shirabu isn’t saying anything, he can practically feel him seething beside him.

“If you wanna complain, then you can mention it in your report. It’s outta my control, though, so,” Daishou says the last word with a hint of finality, and drops the pen back on top of the clipboard.

They reluctantly sign off and take their receipts and cards back, and Daishou waves them off with a, _“Have a nice day!”_ that kind of makes Semi want to punch him in the mouth.

The report takes a little longer than they’d like to fill out, partly due to the line leading up to Ukai’s office. It takes forever just to get the papers they need, and then trying to formulate what they actually witnessed into words is another task in itself. There isn’t much they can give in way of description for either the suspicious figure or the victim, thanks to Cliche’s cloak and the fact that they only saw the backside of the other slung over their shoulder.

When they turn that in, they make sure to run the issue by Ukai in person, because there _was_ a bit of blood at the scene, and there _is_ still the possibility that a murder may be involved. They’re stuck there for about another hour after that, waiting for some authorities to show up and question them further. They won’t be surprised if they get another call in the morning once the scene is actually inspected, but for now?

They’re starving. Out-loud, stomach gurgling, starving. The earnings they got from this job are a letdown, but they still have enough from some previous, more successful jobs to give them a bit of a cushion in the meantime.

Still, cheap seems to be the way to go, and they pick up some food from the local yakitori place. The only other stop is at a grocery store to pick up some instant coffee and Semi’s replacement gum before they head back to the apartment.

They don’t talk much when they get back. They watch TV on the couch while they eat, but so far there’s nothing on the news about mysterious flower-guard disappearances or concerning bloodstains found in an alley.

They decide to avoid the news in favor of some cheesy game show involving levitation pranks, until eventually, Shirabu has passed out on the couch, and Semi decides not to stir him and heads to his own room to get some sleep in a more comfortable environment.

It isn’t until he’s down to his boxers and turning out the light that he notices some missed texts on his phone. He flicks away the lock screen (a pretty photograph of a lightning strike), and pulls up his messenger. Seventeen texts from an unknown sender. Weird. Probably either someone trying to sell him something, or an innocent case of _“Oops, wrong number.”_

He taps the notification for the hell of it. Might as well see if it’s worth responding to.

[10:32 PM] UNKNOWN: holy shit its like tryin to navigate thru my high school bedroom  
[10:32 PM] UNKNOWN: but instead of dirty laundry its all names n numbers  
[10:32 PM] UNKNOWN: do u have enough contacts on this thing  
[10:32 PM] UNKNOWN: r u 1 of those guys who add random assholes on social media  
[10:32 PM] UNKNOWN: aint no way u have this many friends lmao  
[10:32 PM] UNKNOWN: wait shit is this actually workin  
[10:33 PM] UNKNOWN: im gettin thru arnet i  
[10:33 PM] UNKNOWN: *arent  
[10:33 PM] UNKNOWN: ITS WORKING!!!11!!11  
[10:33 PM] UNKNOWN: fuck im not even trypin w my hands and the 1s still get in there  
[10:33 PM] UNKNOWN: *trypin  
[10:33 PM] UNKNOWN: *trip  
[10:33 PM] UNKNOWN: ???  
[10:33 PM] UNKNOWN: w/e at least u dont have autocorrect on i hate that shit

[11:25 PM] UNKNOWN: hey bud the game show aint that interestin  
[11:25 PM] UNKNOWN: my gramps watches this  
[11:28 PM] UNKNOWN: look at ur phone like an actual 20-somethin stop with this crap

It’s a mere five minutes from midnight now, and Semi is staring down at his phone with a sour look, and possibly mild fear.

He thinks, at first, that maybe it’s some kind of prank, but who else knew what he was watching half an hour ago aside from Shirabu? And Shirabu isn’t much of a prankster, and he can’t think of anyone he would’ve put up to spamming his phone, either.

He taps on the ominous “UNKNOWN,” wondering why it isn’t just displaying the phone number instead of a name, like it usually does before he’s added a contact. When the box that would usually display the contact information opens, however, it’s empty. Blank. No name, picture, and still no sign of an actual number.

He’d be less surprised if it was some kind of spam or scam, but a prank text? What the hell were they texting him from?

[11:55 PM] me: who’s this?

So much for ignoring that one. He doesn’t want to admit it to himself, and the whole shady maybe-a-murder thing from earlier _might_ have a lot to do with it, but he’s feeling a _little_ paranoid now.

[11:55 PM] UNKNOWN: the best thing to ever happen to ur phone haha

Some kind of hacker deal?

[11:55 PM] UNKNOWN: no no no wait!!!!  
[11:55 PM] UNKNOWN: don’t delete!

Semi feels everything in his body freeze up along with the finger he has hovering just over the trashcan icon.

[11:55 PM] UNKNOWN: alright alright im approaching this all wrong  
[11:55 PM] UNKNOWN: sorry  
[11:55 PM] UNKNOWN: lets start over k?  
[11:55 PM] UNKNOWN: introduction time!  
[11:55 PM] UNKNOWN: and you are?  
[11:55 PM] me: wondering how much free time you have on your hands.  
[11:55 PM] UNKNOWN: lmao wow  
[11:55 PM] UNKNOWN: forward much  
[11:55 PM] UNKNOWN: u havnt even told me ur name  
[11:56 PM] me: as in:  
[11:56 PM] me: you have too much free time for something this elaborate.  
[11:56 PM] me: also, i asked who you are first.  
[11:56 PM] me: you that person from earlier?  
[11:56 PM] UNKNOWN: uhhh  
[11:56 PM] UNKNOWN: which one

Semi’s brows are knitted, and he reads over those last two words a few times.

[11:56 PM] me: the fuck does that mean?  
[11:56 PM] UNKNOWN: “that person” aint very specific!  
[11:56 PM] me: you either know what I’m talking about, or you don’t.  
[11:56 PM] UNKNOWN: i may or may not be that person from earlier  
[11:57 PM] UNKNOWN: depending on which “that person” u mean!!!

 _‘He sure sounds like the kind of nerd to run around in a cloak,’_ was Semi’s first thought.

[11:57 PM] me: so, what? you want to make sure I stay quiet or something?  
[11:57 PM] UNKNOWN: what  
[11:57 PM] UNKNOWN: oh shit no  
[11:57 PM] UNKNOWN: u think im the crazy

Semi waits, expecting more to that, until he realizes it was the end of the sentence.

[11:57 PM] me: are you telling me you’re not “the crazy”?  
[11:57 PM] UNKNOWN: i am not the crazy  
[11:57 PM] me: you don’t sound very convincing.

He kind of regrets sending that. If he’s really texting some kind of criminal, he should probably be treading with a little more caution.

He’s moving to his door soon enough, mulling over the thought of showing this to Shirabu, or at least asking if he’s gotten any weird texts himself, when another little “bloop” sound from a new message catches his attention. He’s still walking until he finishes reading the text, and then his hand stills on the doorknob.

[11:58 PM] UNKNOWN: I’m the dead guy.

Semi swallows. The message is eerie enough without the sudden change in capitalization and punctuation.

 _‘It’s just a prank,’_ he tells himself, but he’s racking his brain, and he can’t think of anyone who’s enough of an ass to actually joke about something like this. Not anyone who’s aware of the situation, anyway.

By the time the next text comes through, he realizes his hands are shaking.

[12:00 AM] UNKNOWN: my god calm down  
[12:00 AM] UNKNOWN: you went to the academy right?  
[12:00 AM] UNKNOWN: shouldnt u be used to this stuff

Semi finds it in himself to back away from the door, though his eyes settle on it for another moment before he responds.

[12:00 AM] me: to texting the dead? that wasn’t part of my program.  
[12:00 AM] me: how did you know i went to the academy?  
[12:00 AM] UNKNOWN: intuition!

Semi stares at his phone.

[12:00 AM] UNKNOWN: ur no fun  
[12:00 AM] UNKNOWN: u work for the agency  
[12:00 AM] UNKNOWN: its a safe bet assumin u started straight outta school

Semi hasn’t even finished typing the word ‘how’ before he’s interrupted by another too-quick string of messages.

[12:01 AM] UNKNOWN: and i know THAT bc i heard u guys talkin bout my flowers  
[12:01 AM] UNKNOWN: yknow the ones i was guarding before crazy did me in  
[12:01 AM] UNKNOWN: also i can feel u shakin pls stop  
[12:01 AM] UNKNOWN: im not scary im just a guy who wants his bod back  
[12:01 AM] UNKNOWN: and assumin u dont want a permanent dead guy in ur phone  
[12:01 AM] UNKNOWN: ur gonna help me get it  
[12:01 AM] UNKNOWN: :D

Semi deletes what he was previously typing, and briefly considers tossing his phone out the window. He won’t be able to afford a new one, so he’ll just have to mooch off of Shirabu for a while. It’d still be considerably better than dealing with _whatever the hell_ his life was turning into right now.

[12:03 AM] me: or i could just have someone exercise my phone.  
[12:03 AM] UNKNOWN: lmao u gonna take ur cell for a walk  
[12:03 AM] me: *exorcise  
[12:03 AM] me: fuck off.

He smacks a palm to his forehead. Telling the ghost to “fuck off” is the exact opposite of treading lightly, he’s pretty sure.

[12:03 AM] UNKNOWN: look man  
[12:03 AM] UNKNOWN: guarding those plants was a big deal  
[12:03 AM] UNKNOWN: ive got money i can pay you or whatever  
[12:04 AM] UNKNOWN: ill put in a good word with one of the guys at the agency  
[12:04 AM] UNKNOWN: i’ll do whatever you want if u just help me find my body  
[12:04 AM] me: you do realize you’re talking about necromancy, right?  
[12:04 AM] me: that ILLEGAL thing.  
[12:04 AM] me: you know it’s illegal, right?  
[12:04 AM] UNKNOWN: YOU don’t have to do a damn thing  
[12:04 AM] UNKNOWN: just get ur phone to the body and ill take care of the rest  
[12:04 AM] me: and how does that work, exactly?  
[12:05 AM] UNKNOWN: i got this ok dont worry bout it  
[12:05 AM] me: if i promise to think about it  
[12:05 AM] me: will you promise not to do anything weird to my phone?  
[12:05 AM] UNKNOWN: sure thing pal  
[12:05 AM] UNKNOWN: so u wanna try the introductions thing again  
[12:05 AM] UNKNOWN: 3rd times a charm or whatever  
[12:05 AM] me: you first.  
[12:05 AM] UNKNOWN: tendou satori  
[12:06 AM] me: Semi Eita…  
[12:06 AM] UNKNOWN: nice to meetcha, eita-kun! >:]

A smiley face has never made Semi as uncomfortable as this one, but then he’s never received any such thing from a dead man before.

He turns off his phone, and plugs it into his portable charger instead of the wall outlet for the night, just to be on the safe side. He doesn’t want this guy somehow accessing any other part of his living space.

He’s still paranoid, of course. He’ll see what he can dig up on anyone named Tendou Satori in the morning, but in the meantime, he digs a small, wooden box of stones out from his closet and dumps the contents out onto the floor. He promptly shoves both the phone and charger inside, clicks the sliding lock closed, and sets it down on his nightstand.

By the time he’s prepared for bed, the box is surrounded by strategically placed stones and markings. He’s not that worried about how well the paint will scrub off his apartment furniture. Tendou could be nothing but a very much alive prankster, but he could also be a poltergeist or a demon, for all that he knows, so he’s willing to take the extra precautions.

He lights a candle, murmurs the strongest protection spell he can think of, and _tries_ to get some sleep.

 

* * *

 

Semi wakes to the sight of the same thing he always sees first thing in the morning.

The faint, pinkish-purple outline of an oversized moth perched on his pillow, just inches from his face.

Before he came to Voli, it wasn’t as common of an occurrence, and it would always freak him out. Now, after getting a stronger hold on his magic, it’s an every-morning routine, and he’s more concerned when it’s _not_ there to greet him. The lack of insect is a stronger sign of an oncoming illness for him than any cough or runny nose.

He still doesn’t _like_ seeing the damn thing, though.

He swats a hand through it, and the image dissipates with a faint swirl of wind. He reaches across the bed with that same hand, and he pats around in search of something else. When he doesn’t find it, he sits up, eyes only half-open.

It isn’t until he sees the wooden box and melted-down candle that he remembers why he can’t find his fucking cellphone.

He doesn’t want to deal with this. Not right now. He’s tired, and a cup of coffee and maybe some toast sounds far more appealing than dealing with his new ghost problem.

But the knock at his door wakes him up way faster than any amount of coffee could.

He pushes the covers aside and makes a dash for the door, but Shirabu’s already opened it by the time he makes it there. Semi clumsily grabs the handle anyway, pushing it slightly less ajar without actually closing it in his roommate’s face.

Shirabu still furrows his brows at him. He looks a little insulted, or put off by _something,_ but Semi tries to ignore it.

“Morning,” Semi says, leaning against the frame in the most unconvincing show of nonchalance.

“Morning,” Shirabu echos, albeit with an air of skepticism, “Your room reeks of overdone protection magic.” He gets straight to the point, and Semi inwardly winces. “What were you doing?"

“Practicing,” he says, stupidly.

Shirabu watches him for another moment. It’s short-lived, even if it feels like an eternity for Semi, and then Shirabu apparently decides he doesn’t really care.

“Whatever. We’ve got another job.”

That… is not the news Semi was expecting. More like he figured they’d be called back in for an interrogation or something. Also, they haven’t even _been_ to HQ to sign up for another job.

“How?”

“Taichi’s partner is sick, but they’re coming up to a deadline for a job that’s taken a few days now. It’s high-paying, so he says he’ll split the pay if we help in his partner’s place.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to just ask one of us for help?”

Shirabu shrugs. “If you don’t want in, I’ll go alone. More money for me.”

“Do you _want_ to work alone with Kawanishi?” Semi asks, and even if it wasn’t initially intentional, he _knows_ there’s something taunting in his tone.

Shirabu catches it, too, and he doesn’t look impressed. But, then, he rarely does.

Semi agrees to go along anyway. He needs whatever extra money he can get, especially after the last job’s failure.

He gets himself ready, and when he heads out early with Shirabu to pick up some coffee on the way, he very purposely does _not_ take his phone with him.

“I get that you’re paranoid, but you don’t need to overdo it,” Shirabu says out of nowhere as they stand in line for their drinks.

Semi stiffens momentarily, but tries to play cool. Tries. “Sorry?”

“About last night? If that person wanted us dead for seeing anything, they could’ve tried to do something right then and there. I don’t think they’re going to come after us.”

Semi gives nothing but a short “hm” to that. The idea is definitely something he’d thought about, and found concerning at the very least, but he doesn’t recall saying anything to make Shirabu think he was scared for his life.

“Casting a bit of protection magic is understandable, but try not to stink up the apartment with that powerful shit. People will think we’re hiding something.”

Oh.

It’s a misunderstanding that Semi’s a little grateful for. “No, yeah, you’re right. I’ll tone it down. Just, uh, nervous, I guess.” He’d much rather let people think he was protecting himself from a killer, and not his own cellphone.

“No kidding,” Shirabu says, noting Semi’s jumpiness over the conversation.

They get their warm drinks and set for Kawanishi and Goshiki’s apartment. It’s only two blocks away, but Semi’s never bothered to pay a visit in the past. He sees them in passing at headquarters, and sometimes they hang out among mutual friends, but never at each other’s places.

So, between that and Shirabu’s clear issues with Goshiki, he’s a little surprised to find that Shirabu finds the right door without so much as stopping to look for an apartment number.

“So, you’ve been here before?” Semi says after a short moment of waiting for someone to answer the door.

Shirabu doesn’t look at him. He only keeps his eyes trained on the barrier. “Once or twice. I don’t see why that’s significant.”

Semi smiles just a little, amused. “Isn’t it, though?”

Shirabu still doesn’t turn his head, but he does shoot Semi a miffed look from the corners of his eyes.

The door creaks open before Semi can say any more on the topic. Kawanishi is standing there, gaze bordering bored as he offers a flat, “Hey.”

Shirabu offers an equally short greeting, though Semi notices that there’s the smallest hint of excitement in it. It’d be easy to overlook to anyone who didn’t know Shirabu better. But Semi does know him, and he can’t wipe the smirk off his face when they’re allowed inside.

“How’s Goshiki doing?” he asks, turning about to look around the apartment as he ventures further in. It’s clean. Ridiculously clean. Kawanish always struck him as too lazy to keep a place this nice, but he can’t imagine it’d be Goshiki’s doing, either. He’s not sure he should ask.

“Shitty. That’s why you’re here.”

Shirabu scoffs, and Semi shoots him a look. Kawanishi doesn’t even seem like he meant ill by it, so Semi holds back a rude comeback.

“Alright, alright. So, you gonna fill us in a little more on this job?”

 

* * *

 

Kawanishi does fill them in on the job, and soon enough they’re out of the building with backpacks and wands at the ready.

The wands are for the obvious, and they’re informed that the backpacks are for stashing eggs in. Frog eggs, to be exact. It has Semi a little confused, because frog eggs are t _iny,_ and shouldn’t require an entire backpack, let alone three to carry. Kawanishi, however, insists that they’re “pretty big for frog eggs.”

Which, turns out to be an understatement.

 _'Pretty big for frog eggs'_ would be a grape. The _'pretty big'_ that they find is no grape, unless there's a species of grape the size of Semi's face that he doesn't know about.

Apparently, the frogs are rare, but they lay eggs once a week, and they're pretty easy to bait away from their nests if you're familiar enough with their dietary habits. Semi thinks it's shitty parenting, but he's not exactly an oversized magic frog, himself.

The annoying part of it is that the frog can only be found in swamps. Of course. Semi wouldn't have expected Kawanishi to ask for help if he could just waltz up to the pet store for some rare frog babies.

On the way out of the swamp, Shirabu loses a shoe in the mud, and Semi loses a small chunk of hair to an angry bunyip. All but one of the eggs are in tact when they get back to the apartment. They consider it a success, anyway.

It’s too late to report to HQ, so Kawanishi tells them he’ll get their share of the pay to them tomorrow.

 

“He’d better not cheat us outta our share,” Semi says as they approach their own apartment.

“He won’t,” Shirabu says, and there’s no room for argument in the way he puts it.

Semi just hopes he’s right, and decides that he’d much rather focus on a nap or something to relax after trekking through muddy waters.

Focusing on that would be much easier if he didn’t have that one, little, concerning thing left to deal with.

He lets his bedroom door close behind him, but he doesn’t move far from the wall. He stands there, staring down the box, still surrounded by protective markings and melted-away candles. He supposes he’ll have to take Shirabu’s advice and tone that magic down a bit. He also supposes he should actually _deal_ with the problem instead of just locking it away in a magic box.

He shuffles over and retrieves the cursed device from its container, and it takes him what feels like forever to turn the damn thing on. Forever winds up being about five minutes of a one-sided staring contest, but eventually he presses down on the lock button.

The screen lights up soon, and the little animation of the phone company’s logo is only serving to make him more anxious in his wait.

When that finally goes away, he finds his home screen, just as he left it with the same old wallpaper and all. He sighs with relief, and there’s a short-lived silence before a barrage of ‘bloop’s come one after another. The counter above his messaging application is rising by the second. The thought of who’s likely responsible for that makes his stomach drop.

But he taps the icon anyway, opening the app to find Tendou going on with some kind of rant.

[09:01 PM] UNKNOWN: DONT EVER DO THAT AGAIN  
[09:01 PM] UNKNOWN: do you have any idea how dark it is when u turn that off  
[09:01 PM] UNKNOWN: PRETTY FUCKIN DARN  
[09:01 PM] UNKNOWN: *DARK!!!!!  
[09:01 PM] UNKNOWN: i cant even see to navigate this thing  
[09:01 PM] UNKNOWN: if ur gonna ignore me all day at least leave the power on  
[09:01 PM] UNKNOWN: then i can at least play games or read some jump  
[09:01 PM] UNKNOWN: instead of sittin in a gd pit of DARKNESS  
[09:01 PM] UNKNOWN: r u tryin to give me a feel for the afterlife  
[09:01 PM] UNKNOWN: it sucks i get it thanks ur really makin me wanna leave now  
[09:01 PM] UNKNOWN: where the hell even were u  
[09:01 PM] UNKNOWN: u got like 3 missed calls buddy  
[09:01 PM] UNKNOWN: not like i could figure out how to check em for ya in the DARK

Semi watches as the messages keep flooding in, his lips twisting with displeasure a bit more with each annoying ‘bloop.’

[09:03 PM] me: are you done?

He catches Tendou mid-rant when he hits send. He certainly wasn’t done, but he does seem to slow down once Semi actually acknowledges him.

[09:03 PM] UNKNOWN: r U done  
[09:03 PM] me: what does that even mean?  
[09:03 PM] UNKNOWN: r u done locking me up or r we gonna talk like civil men here

Semi isn't sure how many civil men have conversations with dead people via text message.

[09:03 PM] me: we can talk if you quit spamming me for 2 seconds.  
[09:03 PM] me: not that i’m sure what you mean by “talk”  
[09:03 PM] me: talk about what, exactly?  
[09:03 PM] me: me tracking down your body or whatever that bs was?  
[09:03 PM] me: by the way, that sounds nearly impossible  
[09:04 PM] me: so maybe we should come up with some alternative  
[09:04 PM] UNKNOWN: to what???  
[09:04 PM] me: getting you outta my phone  
[09:04 PM] UNKNOWN: i dont have anywhere else to go!!!!  
[09:04 PM] me: have you considered NOT necromancy?  
[09:04 PM] UNKNOWN: im too young for death!  
[09:04 PM] UNKNOWN: and u said u would consider!!!  
[09:04 PM] UNKNOWN: and i already said u dont gotta do the necro thing  
[09:04 PM] UNKNOWN: i got this  
[09:04 PM] me: you said that before.  
[09:04 PM] me: can’t say i’m convinced.  
[09:04 PM] UNKNOWN: _i got this_  
[09:05 PM] me: oh, no. it’s figured out italics.  
[09:05 PM] UNKNOWN: semi pls  
[09:05 PM] UNKNOWN: semi  
[09:05 PM] me: begging isn’t going to make me any more open to aiding in illegal magic.  
[09:05 PM] UNKNOWN: semi semi semi semi semi semi semi semi semi semi semi

Semi’s pretty sure that his frown is stretching his face out. It has to be. He probably looks like a cartoon character as he watches his phone fill with his name on repeat.

[09:05 PM] me: are you 5? holy shit, stop it.  
[09:05 PM] me: can you even BLAME me for being wary??  
[09:05 PM] me: i wouldn’t wanna be a dead man stuck in a phone either, i get it.  
[09:05 PM] me: well, i kinda get it. i have an imagination.  
[09:06 PM] me: but sue me for not wanting to get arrested.  
[09:06 PM] UNKNOWN: ugh  
[09:06 PM] UNKNOWN: tell the cops u were afraid of phone-ghost possessing u or somethin if u didnt cooperate  
[09:06 PM] me: would you?  
[09:06 PM] me: CAN you?  
[09:06 PM] UNKNOWN: idk man i tried but i wound up in your gd phone  
[09:06 PM] me: you TRIED?  
[09:06 PM] UNKNOWN: WHO WANTS TO POSSESS A CELL PHONE?  
[09:06 PM] UNKNOWN: look just  
[09:06 PM] UNKNOWN: i aint gonna do that i want ur help ok  
[09:07 PM] UNKNOWN: and id rather not be on shit terms when i DO get my bod back  
[09:07 PM] UNKNOWN: so im not gonna possess u to do it  
[09:07 PM] UNKNOWN: not like i know how to get out of this thing yet anyway  
[09:07 PM] me: how are you gonna get in your body if you can’t leave the phone?  
[09:07 PM] UNKNOWN: one step at a time dont rush genius

Semi rolls his eyes and plops himself on the edge of his bed. Threats or past attempts as possession or not, he’s starting to think that Tendou isn’t all that intimidating after all. Annoying, maybe, but not intimidating.

[09:08 PM] me: ok, genius.  
[09:08 PM] me: i’ll let you figure out the hard stuff.  
[09:08 PM] me: and i’ll keep CONSIDERING doing the easy stuff.  
[09:08 PM] me: like tracking down the body that the cloaked asshole disappeared with.  
[09:08 PM] me: you could fill me in on what that was all about, btw.  
[09:08 PM] UNKNOWN: hell if i know  
[09:08 PM] UNKNOWN: i was just guardin some flowers and mr mystery shows up  
[09:08 PM] UNKNOWN: all magicy and smellin like death  
[09:09 PM] UNKNOWN: then next thing IM smellin like death  
[09:09 PM] UNKNOWN: and dude i am strong af i am a MONSTER  
[09:09 PM] UNKNOWN: and i still couldnt take him so like  
[09:09 PM] UNKNOWN: if i knew more bout him id tell ya  
[09:09 PM] UNKNOWN: cause u gonna need all the help u can get  
[09:09 PM] me: you realize you’re doing the opposite of convincing me to help  
[09:09 PM] me: right?  
[09:09 PM] UNKNOWN: shit  
[09:09 PM] UNKNOWN: unread all that let’s start over  
[09:09 PM] me: that’s not how brains work.  
[09:10 PM] UNKNOWN: r u still considering  
[09:10 PM] me: i don’t know anymore.  
[09:10 PM] me: i just got done carrying over-sized frog eggs across a swamp.  
[09:10 PM] me: i kinda don’t want to think about anything rn.  
[09:10 PM] UNKNOWN: lmao did a frog lick u  
[09:10 PM] me: what  
[09:10 PM] UNKNOWN: the big magic swamp frogs  
[09:10 PM] UNKNOWN: dont let ‘em lick ya  
[09:10 PM] me: the fuck happens if one licks me?  
[09:11 PM] UNKNOWN: just dont let it happen man

Semi doesn’t even have it in him to continue pestering for clarification. He’ll ask Kawanishi what he knows about frog-licking later.

He can’t help but wonder, though, how Tendou immediately knew what sort of frogs he was talking about. But then, if the guy spent his time guarding magic shit that the agency was after, it wasn’t too out there to assume he knew about other sought-after ingredients, too. Maybe there was only one frog with over-sized eggs worth chasing after. Maybe it was more common knowledge than Semi assumed. He wasn’t exactly top of his class. There was still shit he didn’t know.

He drops the phone on the bed and gets to clearing off the mess the sealing magic left on his nightstand. Soon his trash can is full of misshapen candles and a dirtied cloth that he successfully washed the markings off with.

He tosses his blanket over the phone when he changes, because he doesn’t know if Tendou’s figured out how to access his phone’s camera yet or not. All that he knows for sure the ghost can do is: 1.) speak through his texting application, 2.) somehow feel through the phone, because he pointed out when Semi was shaking, and 3.) access the microphone without Semi’s permission. Or something of the sort. He said he’d heard him and Shirabu talking about the flowers, so there’s that. He’d made comments about what shows they were watching, too, but Semi still isn’t sure if he could actually see, or just gathered things from what he could hear. He’ll have to ask later.

For now, he’s in a pair of sweats and a loose t-shirt he found at a thrift store. It has a big fat lightning bolt on the front, and he’s pretty sure it’s actually the logo of some kind of sports team, but he only got it because it reminded him of his mother’s magic. And because it’s comfy as heck.

He tugs the blanket off the phone once he’s in his comfort clothes, and it’s then that he remembers Tendou saying something about him having missed calls.

He plucks up the device, but their conversation isn’t still pulled up on screen as he left it. Rather, his web browser is open, and there’s a progress bar at the top of the screen indicating that something is in the process of downloading.

“The hell?” he says out loud, and the home screen is back up without him even touching anything. He tries to pull the browser back up, but it closes every time. With an aggravated grunt, he re-opens his messages.

[09:34 PM] me: i literally put the phone down for 5 seconds.  
[09:35 PM] UNKNOWN: it’s been 20 minutes but ok  
[09:35 PM] me: what are you doing?  
[09:35 PM] UNKNOWN: look im just preparing for the worst

A notification lowers over the window, reading “Download Complete.” Semi dares to tap it on, figuring no virus can be worse than the whole ghost thing at this point.

He’s redirected to a folder containing way too many manga scans from some crappy shonen series. He doesn’t actually know if it’s crappy or not, but the art style doesn’t do much for him. He was never really into manga to begin with, though.

He closes that window.

[09:40 PM] me: ok. boundary time.  
[09:40 PM] me: if you’re gonna mooch off me and my phone  
[09:40 PM] me: at least ask permission before wasting all my storage with this bs  
[09:40 PM] UNKNOWN: its not bs!!!!  
[09:40 PM] UNKNOWN: have u READ this one???  
[09:40 PM] me: haven’t. don’t plan to. deleting.  
[09:41 PM] UNKNOWN: DON’T TAKE AWAY MY ONLY JOY IN LIFE  
[09:41 PM] me: what life?  
[09:41 PM] UNKNOWN: wow.

Treading lightly is something he’s suddenly less concerned with. Rather, he’s starting to realize that if anyone is in the position to be doing any threatening, it’s _him,_ and not Tendou. So maybe a few “fuck off”s and dead people jokes here and there aren’t things he needs to be tip-toeing around, after all. In fact, he finds himself _smirking_ at his own response, of all things.

He doesn’t delete the manga. He doesn’t read it either, though. Rather, he dumps the phone over on a pillow and fishes around the mess of clothes and books on his floor for his laptop. He has a search engine pulled up soon, but his fingers freeze over the keys when he goes to type in what’s on his mind. He gives the phone a glance, drops the blanket back over it, and gets to work.

It’s past midnight when he uncovers and looks at the phone again. He’s spent the past few hours researching a certain breed of flower and their assigned guardian, and he’s found that Tendou Satori isn’t all that difficult to find information on.

They’re the same age, went to the academy at the same time, but Tendou’s studies were apparently more focused on preparing him for security-type jobs, whereas Semi had always been indecisive and wound up with a general studies degree. Tendou’s grades were also apparently better than his own, which pisses him off, because he sees how the guy texts.

He can’t find anything suspicious, though. No signs that the guy is particularly dangerous, though he’s apparently pretty good at fire-based magic. Obviously, he knows how to fight to some degree, or else someone wouldn’t have put some rare, sought-after plants in his care, but he can’t find anything concerning about the guy. That’s outside of a few forum posts with girls saying the “flower alley guy is kinda weird.”

Semi’s stumbled across Tendou’s social media profiles. He doesn’t disagree.

He’s surprised to see that he only has one message from the ghost during this time.

[01:03 AM] UNKNOWN: lmao if ur gonna read porn at least put me in a diff room

Semi doesn’t even bother responding to that one. Instead, he finally gets around to checking his several-hours-old voice mails.

The first is from his mother. It’s the usual check-in, complete with the whole, _“Get out of Voli and visit your family every now and then!”_ guilt trip. He’s pretty sure he just visited them a week ago. Maybe two. Whatever. He supposes he should cave just because of the long distance fee that comes with her pestering, though.

The second is from headquarters. A message from Ukai, requesting that they meet with him and the authorities again for further questioning. And, okay, that’s kind of important, but he isn’t about to be held responsible for not responding when they could’ve just called Shirabu when he didn’t pick up. It’s one in the morning. He’ll worry about it later.

The third is some guy from a shop he frequents telling him about some kind of big sale or whatever. Not quite as important, but he admits to himself he’ll have to check it out sometime this week.

[01:09 AM] UNKNOWN: ur mom sounds cute  
[01:09 AM] me: oh my god.

He sticks his tongue out in disgust.

[01:09 AM] UNKNOWN: don’t gimme that  
[01:09 AM] UNKNOWN: im just stating the facts

He’s still wondering if Tendou has access to the camera or not.

[01:10 AM] me: can you see what i’m doing?  
[01:10 AM] UNKNOWN: u mean can i see ur dumb facial expressions and ugly shirt  
[01:10 AM] UNKNOWN: yea man

Semi frowns. The shirt isn’t ugly.

[01:11 AM] me: and you can hear me, right?  
[01:11 AM] UNKNOWN: bingo

“So why am I typing?” he says aloud.

[01:11 AM] UNKNOWN: probably so ur roommate doesnt think ur crazy  
[01:11 AM] me: that’s fair.  
[01:11 AM] me: but if you can text me, can’t you call me, too?  
[01:11 AM] UNKNOWN: i cant even figure out ur voicemail gimme time  
[01:11 AM] me: but you can figure out how to download manga just fine.  
[01:12 AM] me: also, stay out of my voicemail.  
[01:12 AM] UNKNOWN: if i cant invade ur privacy u gotta let me have my manga!!!

Yeah, Tendou Satori is definitely not intimidating.

 

* * *

 

Semi keeps his phone off again overnight, despite Tendou’s text-wall worth of whining that came beforehand. It’s in the box again, too, but he’s only placed a simple locking spell over it this time.

He also doesn’t leave it in there all day long like before, and actually brings it with him when he and Shirabu leave early in the morning to deal with the interrogation business at headquarters.

The interrogation doesn’t actually get anyone very far. They’re shown a few suspects, but it does little good when they never saw a face to recognize to begin with. They _are_ at least able to eliminate two by their body builds, and they suppose that counts for something.

But it’s not doing Semi any good to have the knowledge that the kidnapper is, in fact, a killer, while everyone else has no idea if Tendou Satori is even still alive or not. He keeps thinking to bring it up, and he’s sure that he’s probably giving some sort of cues that he’s hiding something, which only makes him _more_ paranoid. He doesn’t know if he should bring up the whole _“the victim is in my phone”_ thing or not, though.

No, he _knows_ he should bring it up. He just _doesn’t_ know why he doesn’t do so during the time they’re being questioned.

“You’re still shaken?” Shirabu asks when they’re back in the lobby, looking at him with what Semi thinks is disappointment.

“And you aren’t?” he asks, just as judgingly. “I think it’s kinda a human response to be bothered by all the blood and shit that we saw there.”

Clearly annoyed at the insinuation that his own reaction was anything other than human, Shirabu makes a short huff out his nose and moves past Semi, toward the hallway opposite where they just left the interrogation from.

Semi follows, staying a few steps back while he contemplates whether or not to check the phone in his pocket. He turned it off while they were being questioned, but he still doesn’t feel comfortable turning it back on. Not while they’re still at HQ. He’ll deal with Tendou’s whining over the dark later.

In the meantime, Shirabu stops in front of a large wall, covered with rows of pegs with star-shaped tokens dangling from them in different colors. There’s a large sign overhead, softly glowing a cool blue hue with the words “Job Board” in an elegant script.

Others are crowded around, poking at the tokens to reveal projections of their job descriptions. Most of the little stars are gone already, and it’s then that Semi realizes how much time they spent being questioned.

He knows that all of the good jobs have been taken already, because all of the colors signifying something of decent pay are void from the wall. The exception is a single, yellow token. It’s average pay, average work load, so he reaches for it, but another hand snatches the thing away faster than he can even register.

When he shoots a look at the culprit, he’s met with spiked-up black and white hair that puts his own to shame, and a pair of bright, golden eyes. The guy’s grinning, and holding up the star token like a trophy high above his head.

The curly haired guy behind him doesn’t seem fazed by his antics. His expression is more or less neutral when he says, “We shouldn’t be taking any jobs without looking at the description first, Bokuto-san.”

The one with the ridiculous hair looks absolutely _offended,_ and he whips around with more energy and animation than Semi thought a real person could. “But _Akaaaaaaashi!”_ he whines, dragging the other’s name out. “What’s the point in looking at the description when I already know we can handle it?!”

Another guy with not quite as ridiculous, but still ridiculous hair, though his is all black, is laughing behind him while a smaller person with fading blonde hair taps away on his phone, seemingly ignoring the group completely. Semi thinks he recalls seeing all of these people at the academy, but he doesn’t know so much as a name outside from the two he just heard for the first time.

Akaashi sighs, and gently tugs Bokuto out of the way by his arm to offer a small bow to Semi.

“I’m sorry about him, but it seems like we’ll be taking the last mission of this rank.”

Semi is a little taken aback. He didn’t even realize they noticed him going for it, and if they did, then _how fucking rude_ of them to snatch it up like that. Though, this Bokuto guy may have been oblivious in his excitement. Semi’s still not sure if they get a pass or not.

“You wouldn’t be willing to work out a deal for that thing, would ya?” he asks, pointing at the star that Bokuto’s waving in front of the other messy-haired guy’s face.

Akaashi looks to the board behind Semi, to all of the low-rank stars still hanging there. He then looks back to Bokuto, whose excitement doesn’t look as if it’ll be dying down any time soon.

“Unlikely,” he finally says, giving Semi back his attention. “Not that I’m sure what you could offer. If you want the job so badly, then you clearly don’t have the money to bribe us with.”

Semi can only pout,. He doesn’t know how someone can be so polite and so rude at once, but Akaashi’s right, and he doesn’t know what he was thinking suggesting it in the first place. Wishful thinking, he guesses. Dumb wishful thinking.

Akaashi shrugs, and turns to follow the rest of his group out from the hall. Semi watches them get further and further away with the only decent job remaining before he looks back at the board for himself.

“I can’t believe you didn’t say anything,” he mumbles, then realizes that Shirabu is already inspecting a green star at the far end of the wall.

He’s bent over, reading the screen projected in the air before the dangling, now-glowing token. The projection glows with the same, almost pastel green, with the words just a few shades darker.

Semi bends over to get a look at it himself, and he groans out loud. Shirabu makes a small sound of acknowledgement, but nothing else.

The bold letters at the top of the screen read, “Will Trade Griffon Feathers For Pet-Sitting Services.”

“A babysitting job?” Semi whines.

“Pet sitting,” Shirabu corrects, and ignores the look Semi gives him for doing so. “That sounds more like a job that would come with a violet token, doesn’t it? Kinda low standards? I doubt it’s a regular pet.”

“Maybe the pet _is_ a griffon.”

Semi’s joking, of course, but Shirabu seems like he’s actually considering the possibility.

And then he fucking plucks the token off its hook.

 _“No,”_ Semi nearly hisses, but Shirabu’s walking past him anyway. “We are _not_ taking a babysitter job!”

Shirabu clutches the token in his hand, as if he thinks Semi might snatch the thing away and chuck it at the wall. “We don’t exactly have a lot of options, Semi-san,” he says, and he’s not _trying_ to sound condescending, but he does. He always does. At least, Semi thinks so.

“If we have to pick a shitty job, can we at least pick one that _isn’t_ the stereotype of shitty agency jobs?”

Despite his reluctance, he’s still following Shirabu out the hall and to the main missions desk, and he doesn’t do much more than glower when his partner sets the token down on the counter.

The person behind the desk takes the token from them and sets it into a hole cut out in a small platform, shaped just for the star. Next, they swipe Semi and Shirabu’s ID’s, and remind them of the time frame they’re expected to complete the job in.

Shortly after, the two are out the door, ID’s returned, and Semi looking very much displeased with the whole thing.

Shirabu pulls out his flip phone, still choosing to either ignore or simply not comment on Semi’s attitude. He taps at a few buttons, and Semi briefly thinks that he kind of misses the more simplistic feeling of that model phone compared to his present touch-screen. He might need a new cell thanks to his current one’s state, anyway.

“It’s just a few blocks from here. We shouldn’t need a portal or anything.” GPS at the ready, Shirabu leads them down the sidewalk. “We can walk.”

“It’s just for the day, right?” Semi asks, withdrawing his own phone and reluctantly turning it back on. He supposes he’s left Tendou in darkness for long enough. “They’d be paying us more if it was a week-long sitter job, right?”

“Maybe you’d have better luck on our jobs if you actually took the time to _read_ the descriptions beforehand.”

“I skimmed it. Not like it mattered, since you were _so_ open to discussing it in the first place.”

“I wasn’t about to stand around and wait while you tried to make up your mind over a _different_ shitty job.” Shirabu glanced up from his phone and turned down a side road. “And by the time you’d realize that pet-sitting was the best option, someone else would have already taken it from under our noses.”

Semi knows that Shirabu is speaking from past experiences, but he doesn’t want to admit that he’s right, so he just turns his nose down to his own phone while mumbling something about his _“salty-fucking-roommate.”_

He doesn’t know why he thought looking at his phone would lift his mood any, though.

 

[08:00 AM] UNKNOWN: i hate u so much  
[08:00 AM] UNKNOWN: y cant u just put the thing on silent or somethin  
[08:00 AM] UNKNOWN: i wont mess with ur volume controls i promise

He’s not sure how much trust he wants to put in the promise of the guy possessing his personal belongings, even if he’s already leaning toward not considering Tendou as much of a threat.

[08:03 AM] me: they were questioning us on the whole killer thing.  
[08:03 AM] me: or “kidnapper” or whatever.  
[08:03 AM] me: i didn’t mention that you’re here, btw.  
[08:03 AM] me: they don’t even know i know your name.  
[08:03 AM] UNKNOWN: !!!!  
[08:03 AM] UNKNOWN: then they havent confirmed im dad right  
[08:03 AM] UNKNOWN: *dead  
[08:03 AM] me: no, dad, they haven’t.  
[08:03 AM] UNKNOWN: shut up and walk ur phone  
[08:03 AM] me: how about taking it for a swim?  
[08:04 AM] UNKNOWN: O:  
[08:04 AM] me: the point is, i didn’t want to leave my phone on at hq.  
[08:04 AM] me: and i’m on a job right now, so PLEASE behave.  
[08:04 AM] UKNOWN: chill im just gonna read some manga n mind my own business  
[08:04 AM] me: don’t download any more of that shit.  
[08:04 AM] UNKNOWN: lmao now who’s the dad

Semi bumps into an arm when Shirabu holds his out between him and the road. His roommate is glaring at him, and Semi quickly lowers the phone, and he decides to pay attention to where he’s going, like a smart, respectable human being.

They cross to the other side, and after a few more houses, they’re standing in front of their destination.

The place is huge, almost a mansion, with an enormous garden of a front yard, and an intricate, swirling, white fence to separate it from the rest of the block. Between all the trees and shrubbery inside, Semi would have thought it was a city park, if not for the obvious fat house sitting right in the middle.

They manage to find a call button, and they present their ID’s to the small camera on the wall next to it.

They wait for only about a minute before a woman comes rushing out from the building’s oversized and over embellished doors. She… really doesn’t match the picture either of them were expecting to see come out of there.

She’s wearing ripped, denim shorts with leggings underneath, and the tank top she’s wearing only just manages to cover the important spots. Her jacket may very well have been the only thing holding it in place, in fact.

This can’t be the house’s owner, they think, until she speaks, and it sounds just like the voice they heard from the call box.

“What the hell _took_ you so long?” she asks, and she waves the wand in hand with some murmuring of words that unlocks the gates at her command. “Come on, hurry up! I need to get going, but he ain’t gonna trust either of you if I don’t introduce you personally, first!”

The gates slide open without much creaking. They seem to be well managed, as does the rest of the garden, so it’s a mystery where this girl and her street clothes fit in.

But she talks like she owns the place, and she leads them inside, swinging doors open with flicks of her wand before she even reaches them. Semi thinks it’s a bit too show-offy, but he doesn’t comment on it. He still wants to get paid, even if this apparently rich client is severely holding back on them.

When they see no signs of other human life, Shirabu finally asks, “Then you _are_ the client? You’re Tanaka Saeko?”

She looks offended when she snaps, “Who the hell’d ya think I was?” She huffs and steps into the kitchen, continuing with her tour. “All of his food is in here,” she says, swinging open one of several pantries. This one is a walk-in, and it’s filled with giant bags of what Semi thinks looks like bird feed, but he can’t imagine what size bird would even need that much food. There are also cans and jars of meaty things, which is only more confusing. He may have only skimmed, but he was pretty sure the job posting only mentioned one pet that needed watching.

“Which food is his…?” he asks, and he glances at Shirabu in hopes that he’s not the only one thrown off here. He’s grateful to see that his partner looks just as puzzled, or at least like he’s contemplating something.

The woman is looking at them like they’re both idiots, and after some pause, says, simply, “All of it.”

“All of it?” Shirabu repeats, and she rolls her eyes.

“Yes! All of it! There’s a list of portion sizes and when he needs to be fed what on the wall in here, so don’t start panicking on me now.” She flicks a wrist, and the pantry doors slide shut in one, quick motion. “You don’t need to worry about giving him a bath. We’ve got one inside, and he takes care of it himself.”

“It… bathes itself…?” Shirabu asks, and the woman shoots him a look over her shoulder.

“You boys gonna make me keep repeatin’ myself?”

They both shake their heads.

She leads them around the place, showing them her pet’s sleeping spaces and toys and everything that they supposedly need to know.

They just feel more and more confused by everything she shows them.

The bath she shows them looks like a bowl fixed up on a high stand, much like a bird bath, but much of the toys consist of oversized balls of yarn and very cat-like things.

And then, she leads them into the backyard, where they see it, curled up beneath a tree, a chain leash hanging from its spiky collar and trailing all over the yard in coils because it’s so ridiculously long. The boys aren’t too sure what the purpose of a leash that long is, especially when the entire area is fenced in, until they see the giant pair of wings folded along the creature’s back.

“The pet _is_ a griffon?” Semi says it like he’s been hit in the face by the obvious, and Shirabu makes a small sound that indicates he isn’t _too_ surprised.

“Griph!” she calls, arms outstretched and grinning as she approaches the beast. Semi snorts at the creative name.

The creature peeks an eye open, and its ears perk up in time with it. At least, Semi’s pretty sure they’re ears. They look like really long cat ears, but maybe they’re just oversized feathers…?

Whatever they are, they’re sticking up straight, and the creature’s watching Saeko with big, bright, amber eyes as she hurries over to it.

She wraps her arms around the griffon, shoves her face against its feathery neck, and nuzzles. “Look at you, being such a good boy!” It’s so big that she barely has to lean over to hug it, even when it’s laying down. She turns to her guests and grins, one arm still slung around Griph. “Well, here ya go! This is my baby boy!” She gives the other side of its neck a pat. “Griph, meet your new friends for the day. Try not to eat them.”

The two maybe stiffen, just slightly, and she laughs at them for it.

With another round of pats, she separates herself from the creature and makes her way over to the boys. “Then, I’m off! Gotta help my little bro with an infestation problem.” She waves off their concerned faces. “I’ll spare ya the details. I should be back before dark, though!” She throws her arms around them this time, and both look less than comfortable with it. “So, good luck! My son is in your care!”

They nearly stumble when she doesn’t quite let them go, but more so shoves them away.

And then she leaves them with the giant bird-cat-thing in her yard.

They stand side-by-side for a while, staring at it, and the griffon lays its head back down and returns to snoozing away under the shade of the tree.

“This is weird.”

“Griffon’s aren’t that strange.”

Semi doesn’t even bother with any sort of glare toward Shirabu for that. He _knows_ he knew what he meant.

“Couldn’t she have just had a friend come over to pet-sit for the day? Why hire someone from the agency, of all people?”

Shirabu shrugs. “Maybe she doesn’t have friends. You can’t assume she does just because she has money.”

“Did you _see_ her?”

Shirabu rolls his eyes and wanders over to some bushes, inspecting the flowers there. They’ve gathered the same kind for jobs before, and they have to wonder how much other valuable stuff this Tanaka chick has just sitting around the property.

“She’s pretty, though. I mean, she’s loud, but don’t those types of people usually have more friends?”

“So, you have a thing for blondes, now?” Shirabu asks, not planning on wasting his breath on the possibility of her friends just being too busy today. His voice lacks any actual interest.

Semi pushes out his bottom lip. “No, that seems more up your alley.”

He can _see_ the tips of Shirabu’s ears go red, and he feels a small amount of success by that.

“I get where you’re coming from, though,” Shirabu says, changing the subject and very purposely _not_ turning to let Semi see his reddened face. “As far as questioning why she’d hire us, but it isn’t like this is the only house-sitter job we’ve gotten. They have stuff like this on the board every day.”

“I guess….” Semi trails off and watches the griffon. It’s snoring, and loudly at that, but it just seems so peaceful. “You think it’s gonna sleep through the whole day like this?”

“The low pay would be reasonable if it did.”

Semi nods in agreement. It really is just like watching a big, oversized, lazy cat. A cat with a bird head, wings, and talons, but that’s besides the point. He’s seen stranger things.

And that thought is what prompts him to take another look at his phone. When he unlocks the screen, his web browser is open again, but this time it’s not some lame manga site. Instead, it’s a page of search results for, _“How long does it take a human body to decompose?”_

He’s really glad that Shirabu isn’t close enough to see that, or willing to look at him at all, for that matter.

[08:56 AM] me: got bored of the manga, huh?  
[08:57 AM] UNKNOWN: look man i need a time frame here  
[08:57 AM] UNKNOWN: otherwise ur gonna keep putting it off and ill be stuck in ur phone forever  
[08:57 AM] UNKNOWN: apparently my bodys doin all sorts of weird dead stuff already  
[08:57 AM] UNKNOWN: im gonna look so gross i hope theres a fix to this  
[08:57 AM] me: you also need to figure out the part where you somehow get out of my phone.  
[08:57 AM] me: so i don’t know why you’re putting all the pressure on me.  
[08:58 AM] UNKNOWN: i can do that while u look!!!  
[08:58 AM] UNKNOWN: we can get shit done faster if we work together!!!  
[08:58 AM] UNKNOWN: *anime protagonist voice*  
[08:58 AM] me: is that how those shows are now?  
[08:58 AM] me: “we’ll do this shit with the power of friendship” ?  
[08:58 AM] UNKNOWN: are we using the power of friendship?  
[08:58 AM] me: i don’t think that’s what this is. at all.  
[08:56 AM] UNKNOWN: not with that attitude it wont be  
[08:56 AM] UNKNOWN: lets go body hunting when u finish griffon-sitting

Semi glances at Griph, whose tail is swishing in his sleep every now and then. Shirabu has found a small, metal garden table, and has seated himself in one of the chairs. He’s leaning over the table, messing with his own phone. If the lingering pink in his cheeks and the barely noticeable, but definitely _there,_ smile of his mean anything, then Semi has a pretty good idea of who it is he’s texting.

[08:58 AM] me: i dont wanna talk about this right now  
[08:58 AM] UNKNOWN: u wouldn’t last night either!!!  
[08:58 AM] UNKNOWN: im not sure u understand how serious this is dude  
[08:58 AM] me: hard to take it seriously when you talk like that  
[08:58 AM] me: but wait, that’s right, i AM taking it seriously  
[08:58 AM] me: dealing with you and keeping quiet during all the questioning is stressful as fuck, you know

He casts one more glance at the griffon and Shirabu, and he heads toward the other side of the yard. Might as well do some exploring of this huge place while their subject is sleeping. He’ll go insane if he just stands around for the next several hours.

[08:58 AM] UNKNOWN: o wow sorry that was insensitive of me  
[08:58 AM] UNKNOWN: of course ur stressed ur right  
[08:58 AM] UNKNOWN: how rude of me  
[08:58 AM] UNKNWON: the DEAD GUY.  
[09:00 AM] me: fuck ok i get it  
[09:00 AM] me: can we just agree that this sucks for both of us?  
[09:00 AM] UNKNOWN: only if we agree it sucks for me more  
[09:00 AM] me: i could go to prison!  
[09:00 AM] UNKNOWN: i am DEAD  
[09:00 AM] me: fiENF  
[09:00 AM] UNKNOWN: what

Semi stumbles back a few steps. Not because he almost walked into a small pond while distracted by their conversation, which he certainly did, but because of the offensive creature that flew at his face.

A butterfly, of all things.

[09:01 AM] UNKNOWN: oh my GOD

He wrinkles his nose. It’s already fluttered away, scared off by his sudden movement, but the feeling of it brushing against him is still there, and still a pain.

[09:01 AM] UNKNOWN: ur a fuckin mess dude its just a butterfly  
[09:02 AM] me: i don’t like bugs.  
[09:02 AM] UNKNOWN: a. BUTTERFLY.  
[09:02 AM] me: a BUG.

There are at least four of them in sight, fluttering around the flowers by the pond, and Semi is scowling at them.

[09:02 AM] UNKNOWN: most people would be excited to have one land on em!  
[09:03 AM] UNKNOWN: they dont usually do that! specially if ur not totally still!  
[09:03 AM] UNKNOWN: its lucky or somethin isnt it  
[09:03 AM] me: bugs like me. it’s annoying.  
[09:03 AM] UNKNOWN: y would they like u  
[09:03 AM] me: i’m going to ignore that.  
[09:03 AM] UNKNOWN: no no i mean  
[09:03 AM] UNKNOWN: do u use insect-type magic or somethin?  
[09:03 AM] me: that’d be my personal hell, yeah.  
[09:03 AM] UNKNOWN: is ur magic bug a butterfly

 _‘Almost,’_ he thinks, but instead just types a creative “fuck off,” and makes his way to the side of the pond with less flowers. He sees a frog perched on a rock, and a lizard goes skittering by. He can handle those. Reptiles and amphibians have yet to personally wrong him. Or, at least, if they have, it wasn’t when he was a small child where it would stick with him.

[09:04 AM] UNKNOWN: bug magic gives offensive spells an extra kick  
[09:04 AM] UNKNOWN: no wonder ur so touchy haha  
[09:09 AM] me: i’m glad you find this amusing.  
[09:09 AM] UNKNOWN: what kinda spells does ur butterfly help with  
[09:09 AM] me: i never said it was a butterfly.  
[09:09 AM] UNKNOWN: well “fuck off” wasnt exactly denial so  
[09:10 AM] UNKNOWN: cmon ill tell u mine if u tell me urs  
[09:10 AM] me: fire opal.  
[09:10 AM] UNKNOWN: …  
[09:10 AM] UNKNOWN: the fuck  
[09:10 AM] UNKNOWN: whatre you snoopin on me in ur spare tiem  
[09:10 AM] me: i think it’s only fair, all things considered.  
[09:10 AM] UNKNOWN: ???  
[09:11 AM] me: you literally have access to everything in my phone?  
[09:11 AM] UNKNOWN: i guess that’s fair  
[09:11 AM] UNKNOWN: but i mean u really just know my symbol then?  
[09:11 AM] UNKNOWN: u have a bug i have a rad rock but what about my SPECIALTIES  
[09:11 AM] me: fire.  
[09:11 AM] me: i mean that’s kinda. fucking obvious.  
[09:11 AM] me: “fire” opal.  
[09:11 AM] UNKNOWN: maybe its ironic it’s actually water  
[09:11 AM] me: nah, it’s fire.  
[09:12 AM] UNKNOWN: i hope u have a dumb power like “butterfly giggles” or something  
[09:12 AM] me: how would that power even work?  
[09:12 AM] UNKNOWN: idk its like  
[09:12 AM] UNKNOWN: tickle fight magic or some shit  
[09:12 AM] UNKNOWN: its ur shitty powers not mine

Semi actually snorts at that. He finds himself sitting at the edge of the pond now, along an oversized rock that he’s pretty sure was installed specifically for sitting on, being that it’s almost perfectly flat. He’s even more amused at the fact that a conversation about getting distracted from the whole ghost problem has just resulted in _more_ distractions from said problem.

Which is aiding in distracting him from his actual job, but he’s sure that Shirabu will let him know if the griffon actually needs any real caretaking. For the moment, Semi’s convinced he can get away with chilling by a pond and chatting it up with a phone-ghost all day.

He’ll worry about the fact that he’s suddenly _content_ to casually converse with the ghost he’s threatening to exorcise at a later time. The subject is getting pushed aside, along with the whole considering-helping-the-guy-track-his-body thing, for now.

[09:20 AM] UNKNOWN: u know u having shitty powers would explain a lot  
[09:21 AM] me: god, you’re still going.  
[09:21 AM] UNKNOWN: *ignorin u*  
[09:21 AM] UNKNOWN: but u guys do seem to pick up low-rank shit jobs from what i see  
[09:21 AM] UNKNOWN: flower collectin and griffon sittin  
[09:21 AM] UNKNOWN: real go getters

Semi doesn’t know what sort of face he’s making at the screen. Only that it’s an unpleasant one.

[09:22 AM] UNKNOWN: maybe u could afford cooler clothes if u took better jobs  
[09:22 AM] me: my clothes are fine.

He types that, but he still winds up looking down at himself like he’s reconsidering.

[09:22 AM] me: and we USUALLY take better jobs than this.  
[09:23 AM] me: we’ve just had shit luck lately.  
[09:23 AM] me: i still think we should get paid more for the flower thing, all things considered.  
[09:23 AM] UNKNOWN: why’s that??? u aint the one who died from it  
[09:24 AM] me: i can’t tell if you’re actually bothered by death or not?  
[09:24 AM] me: you seem to really enjoy milking the whole thing.  
[09:24 AM] UNKNOWN: thats cause i aint STAYIN dead buddy  
[09:24 AM] me: then quit complaining?  
[09:24 AM] UNKNOWN: fuck off  
[09:24 AM] me: don’t steal my line.

He smirks, and then hears a clang, like pieces of heavy metal falling on top of each other. Pots and pans are his first thought, but he doesn’t know where _that_ would be coming from.

It sounds like it came in the direction of the house, which is the only logical place he can think of, not that he knows what else is in this bigass garden. There could be an outdoor kitchen, and he isn’t even sure if he’d be surprised at it.

Still, house or not, the question of _what the fuck_ still remains, because he’s fairly certain that Shirabu would’ve said something if he and the griffon were going inside.

That’s confirmed when he gets up from his comfy little rock spot and wanders over to the tree from before. Griph is still there, dozing away, and Shirabu is still tapping away at his phone. Blushing at his phone, in fact, but Semi pushes off tormenting him over it along with all the other things he’s apparently procrastinating on today.

He hears another clang, and this time, Shirabu looks up, too.

“She didn’t say anything about another pet, right?” Semi asks, and Shirabu gives a slow, negative shake of the head. It’s a dumb question, and they both know it. Of course she would’ve mentioned another pet if there was one to be sat during their _pet sitting_ job.

They both watch the house for a moment, but there’s no more suspicious sounds after that. He considers that Saeko may have come back in. Maybe she left something behind. Maybe there’s a butler or maid that she somehow managed to forget mentioning.

Or maybe someone’s breaking into the super expensive house while its owner’s away.

“You wanna check on that, or you wanna stay on griffon watch?” Shirabu asks, and his tone is clearly stating, _‘‘Cause you were doing such a good job of that to begin with."_

Semi doesn’t waste his breath answering, and he’s walking toward the house before he’s really thought it through. He’s seen enough magic bullshit (and death, apparently) to not be _too_ fazed by a few clanging dishes.

He’s quiet with opening the door, but there _is_ another poorly timed _‘bloop’_ from his phone. He scrambles for the device, and realizes just in time that he’s let the door slip from his fingers. He kicks out a leg to keep it from slamming shut, loses his balance, and catches himself on the frame so that he’s standing with one leg in the air, blocking the door, and an arm raised up with a cellphone that he just about dropped trying to silence. He stays in that uncomfortable position for a beat, but he doesn’t hear any more suspicious movement, so he thinks he’s safe for the moment.

He gently closes the door, then mutes and pockets his phone. Sorry, Tendou.

He walks slowly, cautiously, through the laundry room and toward where he _thinks_ he remembers seeing the kitchen from their earlier tour. He even draws his wand from his pocket and whispers a _quiet_ spell for good measure. He hates the spell, honestly, because it means not only can those around him not hear his actions, but neither can he, and it makes him constantly second guess all of his actions, even if that’s a little silly.

He’d cast an invisibility spell, too, but he hasn’t done one in a while. He’d wind up with a random visible limb if he tried without practice, so, nevermind that one.

For now, he’s just extra quiet, but he still moves with caution regardless.

He’s getting close to the kitchen when he’s starting to think he’s worrying over nothing, that maybe something just fell over from a poorly balanced place in a closet or something. There’s no extra noises around, and he knows the _quiet_ spell only affects his own sounds.

He considers dispelling it before he makes it just a step in front of the kitchen entryway, and he hears what’s _definitely_ something rummaging through cabinets. He quickly retreats, _quiet_ spell still in tact, backs himself against the wall beside the archway, and listens.

Clinking jars and cans. Opening and closing of cabinets. The shuffling of various food things being pushed around. There’s a lack of footsteps, he notices, but he’s sure that whatever’s in there is more than some pesky mouse.

He doesn’t see any useful mirrors around, so he’s contemplating whether he should peek his head around the corner or use his phone for a better look, when the damn thing vibrates in his pocket.

He’s about ready to punch a wall, because 1.) he set the thing to silent, not vibrate, and 2.) what the hell is the point in a vibrate function when it still makes a loud-ass noise anyway?

He digs into his pocket and clutches the thing, hoping to somewhat mute the sound with his hand, at the very least. Apparently the quiet spell doesn’t work on cellular devices. Or, at least not ones possessed by some other entity not making use of the magic.

Either way, it made a sound, and he’s considered all chances of being stealthy about this thrown out the window now.

Semi whips around the corner, hoping with everything that it is just some butler or maid, but expecting, at worst, some suspicious person in all black, possibly armed.

He gets the suspicious person in black, but he was thinking something more along the lines of maybe a ski mask.

Not a goddamned cloak.

“Oh my god,” he says, unheard, just when the figure turns to look at him, clutching a cereal box, of all things.

Semi’s phone ceases its vibrations, and the volume is suddenly on full blast when the call _answers itself._

 _“THAT’S HIM!”_ comes a voice, one that Semi doesn’t recognize in the slightest. It’s on speaker phone, of course, and Semi can’t properly react to it because of the familiar blast of something like magic that sends him flying back through the kitchen archway.

He lands on his ass, and it feels just like it did in the alley, from the lingering tingle of the blast to his sore backside. Granted, there’s a lack of morbid flowers and blood splatters, this time.

And the cloaked person goes back to searching the cabinets like Semi’s not even there.

He’s not sure if he’s afraid or offended. He thinks he’s afraid. He’s pretty sure he’s shaking, but then the figure tosses the cereal box over its shoulder, and Semi mentally notes that a well-lit kitchen is not nearly as eerie as a bloody alley.

He also notes that there’s still time for bloodshed to occur.

The voice comes again, a little muffled by his pocket.

“Whatever that fucker’s doing, do _not_ let him get away this time!”

Semi can only think of a handful of reasons as to how his phone would’ve gone from silent to _this,_ and unfortunately it’s the supernatural possibility that overrules that of a buttdial or accidental nudge of the volume control. Apparently the ass finally figured out how to make a phone call.

Another difference between now and the alley run-in is that he hasn’t flung his wand somewhere far away, thank god. He flicks the wrist holding it and utters something that breaks the _quiet_ spell.

“Tendou?” he keeps his voice low as he gets to his feet, and the intruder still seems to be ignoring him for some reason.

_“Less talking, more giggle magic!”_

Even if Semi found it appropriate to retort to that right now, he’d still be too distracted by the next thing the stranger takes out. It’s a box, and it has a label on it for some brand of cookie, but it doesn’t _look_ like a cookie box, or anything that would have any sort of delicious snack inside, for that matter. It reminds Semi more of the cases he keeps his stones and candles in.

They try to open it, but apparently the “cookies” are well locked up. They pull at the lid and shake the box, much like a child, and Semi takes his opportunity while he still has one.

With a whisper of words and a swish of the wand, he conjures the image of a moth at his back. It’s large, as big as him, unlike what he usually wakes up to every morning, and more like the enormous thing he saw as a child, and it flaps its wings in time with the wind that Semi summons around him.

It comes in large gusts. Too-powerful gusts that he _maybe_ should’ve held back on a little. He’ll have to apologize to Saeko for the kitchenware he’s just knocked off the counters when the time comes, but he’s none too keen on cowering on the floor this time around. Not when he just wants to be rid of all this.

There’s crashing and slamming with the shattering of glasses and the clattering of whatever pots and pans the trespasser hadn’t already knocked over during his raid. They’re pushed back among all of it, and the hood of their cloak goes flying off as they brace themselves against the wind. Still clutching onto that box with everything, they regain their balance in the air.

_In the air._

They’re floating, and they’ve whipped around to face Semi. Or, _not_ face him, because there’s _no face there_ to do so with. No face, no head, no neck, no nothing. Nothing except for the vague, distorted space where a body _would be_ if there were to be one beneath the cloak.

But even without a face, anger radiates off of them. It pools out from where they hover, filling the room and nearly suffocating Semi with its strength.

There’s sunlight filtering in through the windows. Not a single light is out in the room. Not a drop of blood has been spilled. And, yet, Semi’s suddenly back to being terrified again, maybe even more than he had been upon their initial meeting.

It could have something to do with the projections that appear around the room, multiplying with the intruder’s anger, all translucent and giant and buzzing too loudly in Semi’s ears.

There are hornets _everywhere,_ and Semi feels like breathing would mean inhaling a mouthful of stingers and death. The entire _room_ is filled with the feeling of death, with fear and emptiness all at once, and even he doesn’t think it has anything to do with his fear of the buzzing projections closing in on him.

A door slams open, and he hears Shirabu shouting his name. It snaps him back, long enough to draw in a much-needed gasp of air, followed by another forceful gust of wind that breaks the hornets apart into thin wisps and shoves the murderer hard into the fridge.

The person- ghost- whatever they are, raises an arm, or whatever it is that’s moving their sleeve up in a very arm-like way. Another push of magic comes at Semi, and it’s not like his wind. He doesn’t know what the feeling is, but it _hurts_ upon contact and sends him skidding back even as he tries to block it with his arms crossed before him.

He can feel another wave of it trailing after the first when a string of beads is flung out onto the floor in front of him. They’re all mixes of pinks and reds and purples, and a wall of light in those same colors rises up from them in front of Semi. He can feel the enemy’s magic trying to force its way through, but the wall manages to hold until the threat dies down.

“Is that--”

 _“Yes,”_ Semi snaps at Shirabu, now at his side and unravelling another string of beads from under his sleeve. His opposing arm has something else hung around it. A leash, Semi realizes, and it’s trailing from the neck of the fucking griffon that’s now in the kitchen with them. He decides not to question how much good a lousy leash will actually do to hold down the beast. “Lower the wall, I need an opening.”

“You want to _fight_ it?” Shirabu asks, like Semi’s honestly stupid.

To be fair, he probably is.

The moth is still behind him, still a hovering manifestation of Semi’s magic, despite the fact that its wings are no longer moving. It’s still. Waiting.

When Semi steps forward, he can see the figure rising to its feet- er, rising into the air. Its feet, if it has any under there, aren’t so much involved in the process.

The important thing is, they’re moving again, and Semi toes at the string of beads still laying on the floor, and gently kicks them to the side so that they knock against Shirabu’s feet. The wall breaks apart at the disturbance, colors melting into a smoky aftermath that Semi waves aside as he passes through.

The moth follows, and he flicks his wand, words on the tip of his tongue when the headless figure bolts at him at a speed that tears apart any previous “slow and mysterious” impressions anyone could have had of the thing until now.

Semi panics, and his wand movements and words come out way too fast. The moth doesn’t just flap its wings this time, but charges at the enemy. The wind that whips through the room comes with a loud _whoosh,_ and it’s so loud that Semi doesn’t even notice the screeching of their assignment coming up from behind.

Griph leaps over the kitchen island, wings just lifted enough for the wind to carry him along. He chases after the moth, or follows its lead. Semi’s not really sure which. When the cloaked person is pushed back a second time, the griffon takes it to the ground and makes to pin it there.

He’s hissing. Screeching. Snarling. It’s all very catlike and birdlike at once, not that that’s unexpected.

What’s a little less expected is the rippling in the air that rises up from where the thing is pinned. It takes Semi a moment to realize that Griph has only pinned down the cloak, and not the body. Or not-body. He’ll try to make sense of all that later.

For now, the air is warped in a vaguely human-shape, rising toward the ceiling above the griffon and discarded fabric.

And the mystery box is floating there with it, along with whatever else was tucked away beneath the cloak. There are bags coated in powders and things, and one of them unravels and empties out a handful of colored glass.

The shards don’t fall to the ground as gravity would have them, but float down and begin to part ways in the space around the figure. Before he can even act, Semi sees one of Shirabu’s bead strings shoot out from the corner of his eye, and the end of it wraps around a cluster of glass, magic holding them in place while he drags the shards toward them. And, with a curse and a swing of the wand, Semi sends out another gust of wind that blows back the remaining shards, along with the box in the figure’s hold.

The wood hits the wall with a crack, its contents spilling out onto the floor, but it’s too far beyond the island for Semi to properly make out what those contents _are_. What he _can_ make out, is the figure with their bags still tied to their invisible body flying back to the box at full speed, but not before pushing out another wave of whatever this painful force they keep using is.

Shirabu’s beads form another wall, but it doesn’t have the chance to fully construct itself before the wave hits and breaks through.

Semi doesn’t just skid back for fall on his ass this time. He’s sent off his feet and hits the wall with enough force to make his vision blur into blackness.

He doesn’t know how long it lasts. Seconds. Minutes. He doesn’t think it’s an hour, but when he opens his eyes, he knows it was just enough time for the figure to have reclaimed the glass and flee through their portal. He sees Griph pacing the room, possibly in search of the missing intruder. The animal looks angry and protective, even as it stops to paw at the now-empty box against the far wall.

The cloak is still laying on the floor, too. He thinks they shouldn’t touch it, that they should call the authorities _now,_ and maybe they should have done so earlier, too. He turns to tell Shirabu, but his partner is lying among a pile of broken chairs, unmoving and facing downward with a spot of red coloring his pale hair.

If Semi didn’t hate babysitting jobs before, he surely does now.

 

* * *

 

Help doesn’t take long to show up after Semi calls.

Saeko even returns early, furious, but it’s more so at the chances of her precious griffon being harmed than at the state of her kitchen. The fury dies down a bit when it turns out that Griph is unharmed. He’s the only one.

Her anger _does_ return when she finds out about the box, though. Its former contents are nowhere to be found, so it's safe to assume that the trespasser took them with him.

She pesters Semi for every little detail of the scuffle, while people from the agency's medical team tend to Shirabu and continuously assure Semi that, yes, he will be okay.

Now, he's at HQ, sitting outside the infirmary and staring down at the string of texts on his phone. Shirabu's awake, and the two of them have been questioned for the hundredth time, but his partner needs to rest his head injury, even if it's not as bad of one as they thought. Semi may or may not have texted Kawanishi some of the details anyway.

But at least Shirabu’s still alive. That's one less dead person for him to worry about.

[03:57 PM] UNKNOWN: i TOLD u that guy smelled like death  
[03:57 PM] UNKNOWN: hes just like me  
[03:57 PM] UNKNOWN: fucker probably wants to use my bod as his own!!!!

A ghost seems logical, what with the invisibility and floating and all. The fact that the images of hornets they summoned didn't _actually_ do anything to aid their magic like Semi's moth does makes sense now, too. Or, he thinks it makes sense. Kinda.

[04:00 PM] me: can ghosts use magic?  
[04:01 PM] UNKNOWN: errrr  
[04:01 PM] UNKNOWN: no  
[04:01 PM] UNKNOWN: not like we can  
[04:01 PM] UNKNOWN: uh. like u can. like i could.  
[04:01 PM] UNKNOWN: that ghost force thing he kept doin to push u around is prob all he has  
[04:01 PM] me: "ghost force."  
[04:01 PM] UNKNOWN: ANYWAY.  
[04:01 PM] UNKNOWN: can we stop sittin around on this now?  
[04:01 PM] UNKNOWN: figurin out gettin back to my body’s gonna be tough enough w/o some a-hole possessin me  
[04:02 PM] me: you're one to talk about a-holes possessing things.  
[04:02 PM] me: how the hell am I supposed to figure out where they keep going, anyway?  
[04:02 PM] me: they're using a travel portal. they take the glass with them.  
[04:02 PM] me: there's no way to track that.  
[04:02 PM] UNKNOWN: betcha the investigation team's onto somethin  
[04:02 PM] me: they aren't going to tell ME that.  
[04:03 PM] UNKNOWN: so we find out another way  
[04:03 PM] me: hey, mr necromancy?  
[04:03 PM] me: don't suggest more illegal bs.  
[04:03 PM] UNKNOWN: we don't have TIME to figure out a legal way!  
[04:03 PM] me: YOU don't have time.  
[04:03 PM] me: and i've got a roommate with a head injury thanks to your buddy.  
[04:03 PM] UNKNOWN: o like that's MY fault  
[04:04 PM] UNKNOWN: look  
[04:04 PM] UNKNOWN: even if it's not for me  
[04:04 PM] UNKNOWN: u really want that bastard in a body capable of ACTUAL magic?

Semi lowers the phone and lets his head fall back against the wall.

He read whatever he could find on Tendou Satori online. He's powerful, and not someone a murderer should really have control over.

He looks down again.

[04:07 PM] me: i don't.  
[04:07 PM] UNKNOWN: then we need to get me back in me

Semi groans out loud.

And then he sees a head of blonde coming down the hall.

[04:07 PM] me: we'll talk when i get home.

And he means _really_ talk, because this is too involved to keep texting over.

"How is he?" Kawanishi asks him as he looks up. He's not looking at Semi, though. He's watching the door to Shirabu's room.

"They say he'll be fine," Semi says, tapping his fingers idly against the phone case, "Mostly just a gash, but they're doing some extra tests since he _did_ pass out from it."

"But he _did_ wake up?"

"Taichi, he's fine." He sighs when Kawanishi looks at him with what he thinks is apprehension. "Yes, he woke up."

He doesn't even realize how tense Kawanishi was until his shoulders visibly relax.

"The doctor's in there again, but he said it'd be short, so...."

Kawanishi nods, and only sits when Semi scoots over on the cushioned bench and tells him to do so.

It's only another ten minutes before the doctor steps out, and another two after that for the nurse. They assure them, again, that he’s fine, just a little cranky, which tells Semi that, yeah, he _must_ be fine, then.

When they enter the room, Semi's amazed at how quickly Shirabu's face turns pink at the sight of the unexpected guest.

He turns his face down to the bed and tugs the thin infirmary blanket over himself a bit better.

"I thought you just hit your head?" Kawanishi asks, glancing from the bandages wrapped around Shirabu's forehead to the hospital gown that he's trying to cover up.

"They wanted to make sure there wasn't anything else," Shirabu mumbles.

"Is there?"

"No." Shirabu spits out the word so defensively that Semi has to laugh. "What are you even doing here?" he asks, not fully making eye contact with Kawanishi.

The man in question juts a thumb Semi's way.

Now Shirabu's glaring at Semi. "The hell did you make him freak out for?"

Semi's hands fly up in defense. "I thought he'd wanna know!" The glare doesn't die down, so he adds, "And I thought you'd wanna see him since you're kinda... stuck here."

Cue the pink face intensifying, though this time Semi thinks it might be leaning more toward red. With something akin to anger, possibly.

Kawanishi looks less annoyed, thankfully, but Semi can see the pink tinging his ears, too, so he decides that maybe he shouldn't stick around much longer.

He knows that Shirabu is himself and not dying, so his job is done, he supposes.

 

* * *

 

When Semi gets home, he makes himself some dinner, and then wastes who-knows-how-many minutes trying to figure out how to call Tendou.

He holds his finger over the contact name, but he's still met with a blank space. No number, which he expects, but that apparently means no call options, too. He can't even rename the no-longer-ominous "UNKNOWN" title that comes with Tendou's messages, which is a shame, because he can think of _plenty_ of things to change that to.

He guesses the damn dead man has to be the one to initiate conversation for them to really do anything. They've only been able to text both ways for so long because Semi never deleted their original messages (though, he thinks it may be wise to do that at some point, what with all the necromancy talk).

[05:46 PM] me: hey, asshole, call me.

He almost drops the phone when the thing rings hardly a second later.

Semi answers the call without _really_ answering. He starts to say something, until it registers that he hasn't had a proper conversation with Tendou outside of texting. (He doesn't think he's had a "proper" conversation with him, period, but that's beside the point.)

"Wrong number?" he hears the voice ask after an awkward silence.

"Your voice is about as threatening as your texts," Semi finally says.

There's an offended gasp on the other end, but it's too over-the-top to be real, he thinks.

"You sound as lame as that dumb lightning shirt you like so much," comes after the gasp, and Semi hadn’t realized during the kitchen scuffle how much static accompanies Tendou’s voice.

"It's not _dumb,"_ Semi says when he wanders to the fridge in search of a soda. "And don't blame me for putting shit off when you're gonna get sidetracked like this right off the bat."

"Not sidetracked, just pointing out the facts," Tendou says, "But we do gotta buckle down and get a gameplan, here."

"Are we skipping the part where I officially agree to taking part in this?"

"Are you saying you're _unofficially_ taking part?"

Semi just about slams the fridge door, and Tendou snorts.

"Glad that's out of the way. Now--"

"Wanna tell me what your plan is for _after_ I'm arrested for this?"

"You won't get arrested if you're not caught!"

Semi pulls the phone from his ear, specifically to let Tendou see his expression.

"...Okay, that sounds bad, I'm sure. Isn't it better than letting the guy possess me though?"

"I'm pretty sure he can be stopped without performing illegal magic on your corpse," Semi says, then tucks the phone back between his ear and shoulder so he can open his drink. “Like, me telling the cops what’s going on and, y’know, _taking my phone for a walk.”_

 _“Or,”_ Tendou’s voice crackles, “you could _not_ do the exorcism thing, and be the hero who helps a poor guy who didn’t deserve death get his life back together. Literally.”

 _“Illegal,”_ Semi repeats, clicking open the soda can with a fizzle.

Tendou groans, long and loud. “I keep sayin’, _you_ don’t have to do a thing!”

“I’d be an _accomplice.”_

“You already _are.”_

This time, Semi’s the one groaning.

“And,” Tendou adds, “you’ve already unofficially agreed to it.”

“Fucking kill me.”

“Hey, at least one of us has to be alive for this.”

Semi stares long and hard at his soda. He thinks, at first, that he's trying to think of a way out of the situation, but he already knows that he has every opportunity to just ignore it altogether. Move on with his life. Go back to the simpler things, like collecting frog eggs in a swamp.

"Let's say, _hypothetically,_ I _was_ going to help you--"

"Hypothetically, I already know you are."

Semi furrows his brow and takes a long drink. He's starting to think he should go for the alcohol instead. "So, _hypothetically,_ what exactly would you suggest I do? Break into HQ's records?"

"Nah, too risky."

"'Cause nothing else about this is," Semi mutters into his drink.

“No, listen, I _do_ have an idea, okay? And it’s totally legal! No dark magic involved!”

“Humor me.”

“So, what was it that Casper’s evil twin stole from Blondie?”

Semi wonders why he’s asking him, when he already told Tendou that much on the way to the infirmary. He also wonders if the guy has the right to be making ghost jokes about other ghosts. “Healing stones.”

“But not _actual_ stones. They’re made with phoenix bone,” Tendou adds.

“It’s supposed to be useful in cooking and potion making. I don’t see how that’s relevant, or why some crazy ghost-guy would want them so badly.”

“Come oooooooon, Semi!” Tendou says, but not like he’s actually annoyed or anything. Rather, he sounds almost smug. “They’re used to enhance _specific_ types of potions. Energy restoratives, things that make a person feel more awake. Healthier. More alive.”

“Shit, I don’t need a lecture on it. Get to the point.”

“I’m getting there!” He still sounds too excited for his own good. “So, why do you think she had them hidden, if they were just for cooking or potion brewing? Who would want to steal that, if they could just go to the grocery store and buy a damned energy drink?”

“I don’t think Red Bull has healing properties.”

“That’s an argument for another time. The point is, she _knows_ they have other uses, and phoenix bone isn’t exactly easy to come by, either.”

Semi glares at the ceiling before straightening in his seat and repeating, _“Get to the fucking point.”_

“Rituals, Semi. The kind of rituals you keep complaining about getting involved with. And, if my theory’s on target, and he’s trying to claim my body as his own--”

“Which we have no way of confirming right now.”

“I trust my gut,” Tendou says with a proud little huff. “But that’s gotta be what he’s using those for! And there’s still a chance that he doesn’t have the rest of the ingredients, so that’ll buy us a little time.”

Semi pauses in bringing his drink back to his lips, and instead shoots the phone another suspicious look. _“What_ other ingredients?”

“So, I guess, if you’re gonna go the phoenix bone route, having phoenix feather is necessary, too.”

“Of course it is.”

“Saeko didn’t have any of those, so we just have to hope he didn’t already have the feathers before he broke into her place.”

“Of course we do.”

“I feel like you’re not entirely with me on this.”

“Sorry,” Semi says, actually taking a sip this time, “A little distracted.”

“What the hell is distracting you from this?!”

“No, no, the distraction involves this. That being, how the _hell_ do you know all of this? You can’t even figure out how to get out of my phone.”

“The internet doesn’t have any tips on _that!”_

Semi promptly sets down the drink and pulls up his cell’s browsing history. He doesn’t see anything out of place, outside of the several manga sites. Still, he has to ask, “Have you been Googling _necromancy_ on my phone?”

“I used a private tab!”

“That can still be tracked, asshole!”

“Shit, sorry! Next time I’ll use the _other_ guy’s phone I’m possessing to solve my death-related issues with!”

Alcohol crosses Semi's mind again when he glances at the fridge across the room.

"I doubt Ghost Thief is gonna go after an actual phoenix, so he'll have to find a place that already has feathers. That means either robbing another place like Saeko's, or a store, or--"

"Or the agency," Semi says, and he already regrets the realization before the words leave his mouth.

"Or the agency," Tendou repeats, like he's proud of Semi or something. "Or the academy, if any are being used for classes there. I'm guessing he'll go after whichever is under less protection."

"The academy isn't going to have as high of security as the agency. I'm not robbing a school for you, though."

"We don't have to rob anything," Tendou says, and Semi mouths the word _'we'_ with disbelief. As if the ghost is doing any of this himself. "We just have to know where he's gonna show up."

"And do _what_ when we see him?"

"Follow him through the portal, obviously."

"Obviously." Semi sets down the soda with a clunk and heads back into the kitchen. "What kind of reflexes do you think I have?"

"I believe in you, GiggleFly."

"Giggle..." Semi sighs and sets the phone down on speaker while he rummages for something other than the shitty beer that's been sitting in the fridge all week. "My symbol isn't a butterfly."

"Yeah? I couldn't see you using your magic from inside your pocket, so, I'm sticking with the butterfly giggle-magic theory."

Semi settles on the beer out of desperation. He doesn't open it right away, though. He sets it on the counter beside the phone, draws out his wand, and murmurs something that creates a gentle breeze in the room. When the moth appears with it, Semi holds up the phone for Tendou to see.

"There. White witch moth."

"Where?"

Semi frowns. "What do you mean wh-- oh. The rear camera, deadbrain."

Semi hears the faint click that his phone would usually make upon switching cameras, and it's weird to hear without actually seeing anything on his screen to show for it.

The next thing he hears is, “That sure is a bug,” followed by, “I don’t hear the giggling, though.”

 _“Wind,”_ Semi says, almost exasperated, much to Tendou’s obvious amusement.

“I guess that’s cooler than laugh-inducing spells! I’m sure those could come in useful, though.” There’s a moment where Semi isn’t sure if he should speak or not, because it really sounds like Tendou is carefully considering this. “I’m looking up laughing spells next.”

“Laughing spells and body decomposition. Great.”

“I’ll be using it on you and your sourpuss roommate first, y’know.”

Semi snorts.

“Aha! First attempt, successful.”

“Getting Shirabu to laugh that easily would be the real accomplishment.”

“I’m guessing his specialty isn’t giggle magic either, then?”

The moth disappears with the breeze, and Semi takes the phone off speaker and clicks open the beer can. “He’s better with healing and defensive stuff.”

“Flower magic?”

“Beads.”

“You two’ve got that balance thing goin’ on, then. Insect magic is usually more offensive, so if you’ve got that strengthening wind magic, then you can probably make like… tornados and shit pretty easy?”

“I guess. I’d rather have a fire opal.”

“Pfft, why? You bug-lovers get way more of an offensive kick to your spells than us gem-types. Or, the offensive stuff just comes easier earlier on, I guess. Not that _I’m_ not badass with my stone stuff.”

“Bug lover is going a bit far….”

“Right. You’re a wimp. I forgot.” It doesn’t sound like there’s any real bite to Tendou’s words, but Semi still gives the phone an offended squint before downing a mouthful of beer. “Sounds like you hate the bug more than the wind part. What happened? One fly up your nose when you were little?”

“I am not about to let a ghost try to psychoanalyze me and my entomophobia.”

“You admit it’s a phobia, though?”

“I mean…” Semi wanders past the couch, plucking up the half-empty soda can with the same hand his beer is in on the way to his room. “...I guess not? Anymore? I still hate the things. Especially if they have stingers.”

“Moths don’t have stingers.”

“No, but they still suck.”

“They’re fuzzy and cute.”

“They’ll invade your grandma’s closet and attack your face onsight.”

The static-filled cackle that comes out of the phone is not by any means easy on the ears. _“Dude.”_

“I may or may not just be bitter that I got stuck with one, alright? I can admit to that.” He sets the soda next to the wooden box on his nightstand and plops himself down on the bed with the more favored drink of the hour. “This isn’t solving our ‘How-am-I-going-to-follow-Casper-through-their-portal’ problem, by the way.”

“Use your wind to fly at him, Mothman.”

“I swear to _fuck,_ Tendou.”

“To what me?”

“Don’t.” Another probably well-deserved swig. “Even if we get that plan to work, it sounds like a recipe to make _both_ of us dead. Hell knows what’s waiting on the other end of that thing.”

“Bring your own travel portal. You can bail as soon as you need to.”

“What the hell makes you think I own one of those?”

“Hm,” Tendou makes the sound like he’s still trying to contain laughter. _“That,_ we might need to steal.”

"I'm so close to hanging up on you."

"You don't even know anyone you can borrow one from?"

"Those things are expensive. I don't have any rich friends."

"Can you make some in the next twenty-four hours? Saeko seemed cool enough."

Semi pulls the phone away and hovers a thumb over the red "end call" icon.

"I'm kidding, _I'm kidding!"_ Tendou says, almost pleadingly. “But if we can’t borrow or afford one, what’s our other option?”

“Stay at home.”

“Take the ghost’s.”

Semi throws an arm up in the air. It would be two, but he’s holding the phone with the other, and he’s not sure if the dramatic _‘I fucking give up’_ gesture is doing much good with or without the addition. Plus, it winds up looking more like an ill-placed _‘victory’_ gesture with the beer can still in his hand. He falls onto his back, miraculously keeping the can up without spilling, and he kicks his legs up pathetically before smacking them back against the bedside. “What do I look like I’m made of to you? _Magic_ or some shit?”

Tendou snorts, before he says, “Magic and bad hair dye.”

“I’ve seen pictures of you. Your hair’s not so impressive, either.” He knows he hears Tendou say something in retort, but he doesn’t really register what it is. “There’s no way I can pull this off,” he says after a moment, tired and hopeless.

“Don’t stress so much over it.”

“How can you even sound so calm? It’s _your_ life we’re talking about.”

There’s nothing but static on the other end for a few seconds, but Tendou’s voice eventually rejoins it. “...I'm not as calm as you probably think," he says, and there's another long moment of soft static before he continues with, "If I freak out on ya, it's just gonna make you freak out more, and... I really need your help, alright?"

"You _sound_ pretty calm..."

"Maybe I don't _look_ calm."

Semi thinks on that for a moment, hardly noticing the static at all now. The ghost thief they keep running into didn't have any visible traits, so would Tendou be any different?

He sets down the beer on the nightstand. The edge is off the edge slightly, but he’ll worry about it later.

He pulls the phone away from himself and switches on the front-facing camera. "Hey, can you turn on a camera from your end?"

"Uhhh..."

"I'm just curious."

It takes a bit, but eventually the screen flickers to what _should_ be the caller's camera. He doesn't see Tendou, though. Just a black space.

It's nothing that surprises him. "That figures. What's it even feel like, being stuck in there?"

"I don't really know how to describe it? It's really spacious, but I don't, y'know, have a physical form to appreciate it with. Or maybe it just seems roomy 'cause I _don't_ have one? I wonder if this is what the inside of a pokeball is like."

"To a ghost-type, maybe."

 _"Oh!"_ Tendou shouts, and Semi's glad he doesn't have the phone by his ear at the moment. "Don't make fun of my manga anymore, Pokemon nerd!"

"Everyone fucking knows what Pokemon is!"

The picture-less camera screen shuts itself off, and Semi waits to make sure there's no more yelling before setting the phone down on the mattress, near his ear.

"I feel so much better, asking to be rescued by a Pokemon master."

Semi, in the midst of pulling a pillow toward himself, bats the phone with it before tucking it under his head.

"Seriously, though," Tendou continues, snickering just a little. "I'm asking, this time. Not demanding or telling you what I think you're going to do. I'm asking. Begging."

The room is full of static again, though it's more faint than before. It's almost become comforting as background noise.

After some pause, Tendou adds, quietly, "Please. I need your help."

Semi curls his legs up onto the bed as he turns onto his side. He stares at the phone, and he takes in a long, unsure breath.

If he wanted to say no, if he wanted nothing to do with this, he could have fucking done something by now.

But hasn't. He's here, late at night, talking to a damned ghost on his cellphone, and he's genuinely considering whether or not to risk his life over someone who's already dead. Someone he didn't even know when he was still _living._

"Do you realize how much you'll owe me if this plays out?"

"I'll owe you my life!" There's a thoughtful pause before Tendou adds, "And, like, fifty yen."

"Wow, thanks." Semi laughs, even if it's a little weak. Still, it's a laugh, and a real one, and he convinces himself that it's unrelated to why Tendou suddenly perks back up.

"And I'll get you some cooler hair dye! Green would be cool."

"Green would be dumb."

"We'd be a watermelon!"

"Wait, why are we matching hair now?"

"So you'll never forget me when I leave the hell that is your internet history."

"I'm pretty sure that was perfectly normal until you touched it."

“My manga isn’t as bad as your porn choices.”

Semi abruptly presses his mouth into a thin line.

The room is quiet for a moment, and that moment feels like several minutes, or maybe a year or two, as far as Semi’s concerned.

“Okay, I didn’t _actually_ see anything like that, but your silence is concerning.” He can hear Tendou struggling not to laugh. “Now I’m curious.”

“About what? My _porn_ interests?” Semi scoffs. “Fuck off.”

“I think that’s the first time you’ve said that to me outside of text.”

“You deserve all the ‘fuck off’s in the world.”

“You fuck off.”

 _“You_ fuck off.”

“I’m trying, but I’m kinda immobile at the moment.” A short pause, and Tendou laughs. “Or, I’m completely mobile, I guess. I’m immobile in your mobile.”

“Please, stop,” Semi says, but he’s already betrayed himself with a snort. It’s an actual, pig-like snort, too, and he decides to keep talking before Tendou can call him out on it. "I guess... you won't be for much longer. Hopefully. I don't know how much confidence I have in this plan."

Well, it works in keeping Tendou from commenting on his snort. It makes him dead silent for a moment, in fact.

The exact words _'dead silent'_ even cross Semi's mind, but he refrains from making any comment outside of a mildly concerned, "Tendou...?"

There's hesitation, but the ghost finally asks, "Does that mean you're...?"

Semi breathes in, no more sure than he was before when he says, "Yeah... I'll do it."

And as soon as the words leave his mouth, he wonders if he needs to spend the rest of the night writing up a will.

“You’re serious? You’re gonna help me? For real?” Tendou’s voice seems to rise higher and higher with each question. “Ah, shit, okay, I don’t wanna make you second guess anything. Seriously, Semi, I’m gonna be in such debt to you. You won’t regret this, alright?”

“I’m gonna hold you to that, you know.”

“We’re gonna pull this shit off, I promise.”

He says that, but Semi wonders if Shirabu’s going to come home from the hospital to one less roommate.

 

* * *

 

Shirabu still has a roommate when he comes back, because his injury was, in fact, not that bad, and staying in the infirmary for more than a few hours was unnecessary. So Semi still has yet to have a chance to throw his life away in attempt at saving an already-dead man.

Shirabu doesn’t come back as soon as he’s let out of the infirmary, though. He comes back the next morning, and as soon as the whole concerned _“How are you holding up?”_ conversation is over, Semi _has_ to ask where he was all night, if not the medical ward.

“I stayed the night at a friend’s,” was the dry response he got.

“I guess you don’t have your own clothes drawer at Taichi’s yet, huh?”

Shirabu shoots him a small glare, snatches himself a water, and disappears to his bedroom.

And then Semi’s phone vibrates.

[11:13 AM] UNKNOWN: r they even a thing

His shoulders shake with a short laugh when he responds.

[11:13 AM] me: they’re a thing.  
[11:13 AM] me: they just don’t realize it, i think.  
[11:14 AM] UNKNOWN: denial?  
[11:14 AM] me: who fucking knows.

Semi makes himself some breakfast, or brunch, or whatever it is, and some extra for Shirabu, because he’s a good roommate. And because he feels kinda bad about ditching his sort-of-injured work partner to go play Dead Man’s Hero for the day.

But playing hero for the day really means hanging around his old campus like a creep. Or not a creep. _He_ feels a little creepy in doing it, but it could be because he’s carrying a ghost around in his pocket. Realistically, no one finds anything strange about a former student dropping by to say hi to old professors.

That's what he tells people he's there to do, anyway, and he _does_ actually stop by a few classes to do so for real. He stops by other classes to verify whether or not the courses involve the use of pheonix feathers or not.

He thinks he's narrowed it down, and he thinks he has an idea of where they need to stake out if they wanna catch Mystery Phantom. Between trying to figure all of that out the night before, and the fact that he and Tendou stayed up for several hours talking about practically nothing, Semi is running a little low on sleep. Or a _lot_ low on it.

He's running on his third coffee when he stops by on an afternoon healing lecture, and he's surprised it's _only_ the third.

He'd only taken the bare minimum of healing-focused courses when he was a student. Insect symbols are known for strengthening offensive spells, and so that was the sort of magic he focused on developing at the time. This was more of Shirabu's area, but Semi still knows the teacher well enough to get away with sitting in on a class that he really has no business being in right now.

Granted, sitting in on it is a waste of time. He really just needed to walk in long enough to see the glass case of jars and boxes behind the desk to confirm what he was hoping for. It's heavily locked up, and no doubt has some sort of protection spell that only the staff knows how to disarm, but there's a bar labeled "phoenix feathers" toward the top shelf. And that's fine. It wasn't like he planned to steal them himself. He just needed to know they were there.

He pretends to be intently listening to the lecture as he texts beneath the table.

[02:35 PM] me: so if Casper needs all this bird stuff  
[02:35 PM] me: won't YOU need it, too?  
[02:36 PM] me: or can you just fly into your body 'cause it's yours?  
[02:36 PM] me: I get the feeling the afterlife doesn't work like that.  
[02:36 PM] UNKNOWN: yeah im pretty much just crossin my metaphorical fingers on that one  
[02:36 PM] UNKNOWN: i mean I have IDEAS  
[02:36 PM] UNKNOWN: but its not like any of these websites are written by ghosts like me  
[02:36 PM] UNKNOWN: and im no hacker so I cant get into the good stuff  
[02:36 PM] UNKNOWN: i just hope 1 of these plans works

Semi tries not to look annoyed, because staring at his lap in disappointment is probably not how he should be spending this class.

He makes sure to glance up every now and then, and even pretends to jot down a few notes, like a good, interested guest student probably would.

[02:52 PM] UNKNOWN: also were u always this good a student  
[02:52 PM] me: yes.  
[02:52 PM] me: that's not important.  
[02:53 PM] UNKNOWN: u already answered anyway tho lmao  
[02:53 PM] UNKNOWN: wait dont say it ill say it for u  
[02:53 PM] UNKNOWN: "fuck off tendou"  
[02:56 PM] me: thanks.  
[02:56 PM] me: what if u manage to re-posses your body, but it's just like the phone?  
[02:56 PM] UNKNOWN: ???  
[03:00 PM] me: like  
[03:00 PM] me: you're controlling it. but it's still a corpse.  
[03:00 PM] me: and it keeps rotting while you're in it.  
[03:00 PM] UNKNOWN: ok gross  
[03:00 PM] UNKNOWN: cool but gross  
[03:01 PM] me: how the hell is that cool?  
[03:01 PM] UNKNOWN: im sure that probably wont happen  
[03:01 PM] me: "probably."

He sets the phone down a few times to actually pay attention, but nothing the teacher’s saying is really of interest. That hasn’t changed since he graduated, he supposes. His eyes keep flicking back to the jar of feathers, though, and he severely hopes that if the ghost is going to need them, that this is the ideal place for it.

With his luck, it’ll be some shady shop in some back alley, and he’ll be wasting several nights here watching a damned shelf for nothing.

[03:15 PM] me: let’s say this doesn’t work, but i still get out alive…  
[03:15 PM] UNKNOWN: good for u bud  
[03:15 PM] me: i wasn’t done!  
[03:15 PM] me: what happens to you?  
[03:15 PM] me: do you have some time limit before you… pass on or whatever?  
[03:15 PM] me: how long do you think you can stay in my phone for?  
[03:15 PM] UNKNOWN: well since leaving the phone is provin kinda difficult  
[03:15 PM] UNKNOWN: ima say thats not a huge concern?  
[03:17 PM] UNKNOWN: do u not WANT me to leave?

Semi knows he should be looking at the board or his notes or something that doesn’t scream suspicious, because why would he have asked to sit in on a lecture he wants nothing to do with, right? But he’s staring at his phone, like death itself is staring him right in the eyes-- ok, well, it is, in a sense, but he’s a little terrified over the fact that he doesn’t know _how_ to respond to that question.

The shuffling of books and feet snap him back to reality. When he does look up, the lecture has ended, and the students are all flooding out through the door. Some stay behind to ask the professor some questions about current assignments and whatnot, and Semi takes the distraction while it’s there as a chance to book it before anyone can ask him any questions.

He’ll be avoiding confrontation with that particular professor as much as possible now. He knows the guy stops by the agency from time to time, and he really doesn’t want to have to explain what has undoubtedly come off as strange behavior.

Several hours after that are spent wandering around campus, legitimately revisiting old regular spots. The library, the dueling arena, and some old classrooms that he enjoyed significantly more than the healing ones. It’s only been a year since he graduated, but a lot of places have already had remodeling done since then. Go figure.

He decides to leave around early evening, because hanging around all day is really going to draw more attention than he needs. So, he does some window shopping, grabs a bite to eat, and continues mulling over the possibility of death waiting at the end of this little quest for him. Kind of a downer, but kind of hard to ignore.

It’s not quite dark out yet when he slips into a public park bathroom. A single, family bathroom, free of stalls for others to judge him in, so he prompts Tendou to give him another call.

The call doesn’t come without a snarky comment regarding the location, but Semi dismisses that. He uses the time and place to practice the only spell he can think to sneak into the school after hours with, just to make sure he still has the hang of it.

Invisibility is _not_ his specialty. Like healing, it’d probably be more up Shirabu’s alley, or maybe even someone with more balanced specialties like Tendou.

Still, he’s tried and sort of pulled off an invisibility spell before, back in school when he was _maybe_ a little too into Harry Potter and sulking over the fact that invisibility cloaks did not, in fact, exist.

He swipes his wand in the air, away from the phone, and with just the right words, he vanishes from sight. The phone is still visible, seemingly floating for a moment, but soon that vanishes, too.

Only for everything to flicker back into view two seconds later.

“Well, that went about as smoothly as your attempts last night,” came Tendou’s voice.

Semi groaned. “I just need to hold it long enough to get into the classroom. I held it way longer than this last night.”

“You’re also running on way less sleep than you were last night, man.”

“Irrelevant,” Semi says, then tries for the spell again. It lasts a little longer this time, but still not as long as he’d hoped.

“It’s totally relevant!”

 _“Look,”_ Semi practically hisses, but he lowers his voice to a whisper. Single stall or not, he’s not counting on a public restroom being one hundred percent soundproof. “I just need to get back in the swing of things with this stupid spell. It’s like… when you have to do vocal exercises before a show or… something.”

“Do you sing?”

“No, I just couldn’t think of a better comparison.” He hears a laugh from the other end. “I’ve got this.”

“Don’t seem to.”

“If I have to trust you every time you say that about your part of this plan, then you can trust me on this.”

He takes the silence as agreement, and practices the spell as many times as he can before someone finally knocks on the bathroom door.

It’s nearing nine P.M. when he returns to the school.

There's a night class that should be coming to an end soon, so Semi waits it out in the bathroom entrance across the hall until he hears the door click open.

He casts the spell, and dodges the students flooding out from the door unseen. When the crowd dwindles down, and one girl stops in the doorway to call after a friend inside to hurry up, Semi takes the chance to duck inside.

He maneuvers around the few remaining people in the room, and backs himself against the wall until they filter out. He finds himself holding his breath as he watches the professor gather up their papers into a briefcase.

It's pissing him off, too, that the teacher is moving so damn slow. Or maybe he's just impatient. Still, he definitely recalls his past professors being the first out of the room once a lecture was over, so this is bullshit either way.

When Professor Snail-Pace finally departs from the desk, Semi sneaks his way over and crouches down beneath it. He doesn't release the spell until he hears the door close and lock behind him, accompanied by the room suddenly getting much darker, and when he does, it's with an exaggerated heavy breath.

He pops back into sight, but he's pretty sure that the cameras can't see him where he's sitting, so he's safe for the time being. He hopes.

He's thankful that security cameras are typically without sound detection, even in Voli, when his phone buzzes.

[09:09 PM] UNKNOWN: im so proud of u  
[09:09 PM] me: i think i have a headache.  
[09:09 PM] UNKNOWN: u think?  
[09:09 PM] me: i DEFINITELY have a headache.

He looks up at the glass display against the wall across from him. At least he has a perfect view from here, cramped as it is.

About half an hour goes by before Semi realizes that, should the ghost thief _not_ show up, he'll be stuck hiding under this desk until someone comes and unlocks the door. Unless he wants to let the door opening by some invisible force (him) get caught on camera.

[09:42 PM] me: i should've brought a book or something.  
[09:42 PM] UNKNOWN: i have manga  
[09:42 PM] me: ugh.

He opens a dumb Match Three game that he downloaded out of boredom (and then never touched) a few months back, and he's relieved that he at least thought to bring his phone charger with him. He's even more relieved to discover that there's an outlet right under the desk where he's sitting.

[10:07 PM] UNKNOWN: if u match 4 u get a powerup  
[10:08 PM] me: did YOU wanna play?  
[10:08 PM] UNKNOWN: not rly its just hard to watch u suck at this  
[10:08 PM] me: i don't suck, i just beat the level.  
[10:08 PM] UNKNOWN: yeah but u only got 1 star  
[10:08 PM] me: the score doesn't matter!  
[10:08 PM] UNKNOWN: i cant BELIEVE this

Tendou winds up playing anyway, if only to show Semi "how it's done," because apparently he'd been playing the thing when he wasn't absorbed in his shitty comics (which explains why Semi has so many levels unlocked after never touching the game himself).

"How it's done" winds up being about as good as Semi's own attempt. Apparently it's a hard level.

"I'm not playing this all night," Semi says, and his phone bloops with another text.

[10:23 PM] UNKNOWN: should i call or somethin?

"Why? So you can distract me while you read more Gray Men?"

His phone rings after that, and Tendou's voice comes with an offended, "It's called _D.Gray-Man!_ And it doesn't update that often, so no complaining from you!"

Surely enough, said manga is now up on Semi's screen.

"At least it's not the ninja one, I guess."

"Dude, you're just as bad with names as you are with clothes."

"The hell is your problem with my t-shirts?"

He doesn't get an answer, because Tendou's too distracted by what he's reading, apparently.

Semi legitimately tries to read along, because he's bored out of his mind, but he has no idea what this series is even about, and Tendou is changing pages too fast for him, anyway.

Tendou remembers to actually talk every once in awhile, though, or at least during the scenes that don't have as much dialogue.

They compare experiences from their time at the very school they're (illegally, Semi reminds him) hiding out in. They talk about the instructors they enjoyed and hated. About which dorms were too noisy. About their favorite study and hangout spots.

They talk about death.

Specifically, their underwhelming reactions to it through all of this. The way that Tendou only seems mildly unsettled by it all. Which, he says is because he's still in the world of the living, and he still thinks there's a chance of returning to his former life.

Semi holds back his doubts.

But Tendou still misses things. The sensation of touch, because apparently he can only _sense_ movements like Semi's shaky hands when they happen.

He misses food and a sense of space and reality. He misses being able to sleep, to dream. He misses people, even if he’s found Semi’s company amusing as hell. He misses conversing more than just one-on-one, he misses human contact. Real human contact, skin to skin, not this vague through-the-phone business.

And Semi feels guilty that he doesn’t feel as bad as he thinks he should. A person is dead. That person is talking to him, reminding him of all the things he can’t do, because he’s dead. Semi wants to feel bad, but it’s complicated, because he’s never known Tendou as anything _but_ a dead man.

You can feel sympathy for the loss of someone you never knew.

But how often do you _meet_ that someone as a ghost? Without prior knowledge, or only minimum consideration of their previous life?

It’s… strange, to say the least. As if that didn’t go without saying when it came to the whole _‘dead person living in a cell phone’_ thing to begin with.

And maybe he’d feel worse if Tendou acted a little more upset, too.

“You know, if you’re just pretending it doesn’t bother you to keep me from freaking out, you can probably drop the act now.” Semi glances at the jar of phoenix feathers. “I’m already here, aren’t I?”

“Amazing as _that_ is.”

“You’ve got to have family, or friends, or _someone_ who’s worrying about you. If anything, doesn’t that bother you?”

“You give me the cold shoulder for days, and you expect me to vent to you?”

Semi bites his lip and looks down from the jar. He’s not sure if he thinks Tendou has a point or not, because, to be honest, the sympathy card might have even gotten him to agree to this sooner. _Might_ have.

“I don’t expect it. I’m kind of the only guy who can listen in the meantime, though, so, figured I’d offer….”

Soft static fills the classroom after that.

“Sorry….” Semi says after some time. “I wasn’t trying to pressure you into talking, I--”

“No, I know,” Tendou says over the static, “You’re right. Thank you.”

Semi doesn't know why the thank you makes him feel so uneasy. Maybe it's because of the way he's used to seeing Tendou type. Even with what few verbal conversations they've had, he's always come off as so carefree. So easygoing, even if kind of an asshole about it.

But now he sounds serious. Almost... depressed? Not that he shouldn't be, all things considered, but it reminds Semi of how much the _"I'm the dead guy"_ text stood out when they first met. If you could really call it a true meeting.

"I still kinda feel like I'm trapped in a dream or something," Tendou says, "Or a nightmare, I guess. I don't know if that's right, ‘cause I can’t _really_ dream like this, and I miss _actual_ dreams. It's just... none of this feels real? How _can_ my consciousness or whatever floating in some dark cellular void feel real?"

"Can't really expect you to just get used to it in a few days."

"It's not even like I feel like I'm trying to adjust so much as... like it isn't happening, you know?"

"Can't say I'm familiar with what you're going through...."

"It's weird. And it should be scary, and I _think_ I'm afraid? Because I was definitely afraid of death when I was alive-- don't ever repeat that to anyone. I laugh in the face of danger as far as anyone knows, okay?"

"I got it, Simba."

Tendou fakes a loud, obnoxious laugh that makes Semi very conscious of the fact that they're supposed to be hiding right now.

"But like, it kinda felt like death was the only thing that could stop me, y'know? And now death's got me in its gross, loving embrace, and I don't... feel so scared? But THAT makes me scared."

"You're afraid of... not being afraid?"

"That'd mean I've accepted it."

"Have you?"

 _"Fuck no!"_ There's a pause, and then an unsure, "...I think."

"How much thought have you given this?"

"A lot? But I still know we've got a shot at getting my body back! And I hope that's the real reason I don't feel so afraid... I don't know...."

Semi sits there, knees pulled up to his chest and elbows resting on them as he stared at the jar without really paying it any mind for the moment. "I think... it's too soon for you to really know. And hopefully this'll all be fixed before you _have_ to know."

"You think they've got someone to replace me on flower duty by now?"

"I wouldn't be worried about that."

"The downside to coming back to life is I'll have to worry about makin' money again. Lame."

"You're crazy powerful or something. aren't you? Not just by gem magic standards, but probably even by insect-types, right? I can't imagine you having trouble finding work." Semi finally tears his gaze from the jar in favor of checking to see what kind of activity's going on with his phone screen. The manga's still up, but he has a feeling Tendou isn't really reading it anymore. "You could probably get something better than 'flower guarding,' too."

"It paid better than you'd think!" Tendou says, proudly. "And I got to fight off greedy bastards who don't wanna get their potion ingredients the legal way."

Semi snorts. "Was flower theft really all that common?"

"Very. Kept the job interesting, though." Tendou hums like he's considering something important. "You think I could join you and your stuffy roommate in the job sometime?"

"Freelancing?" Semi shifts the phone to his other ear. "You probably made better money guarding flowers."

"Would be fun, though. I kinda skipped the whole new-graduate level work and went straight to guardman stuff."

"You poor thing."

"You wouldn't let me, then?" Tendou asks, like a goddamned kicked puppy. "We could make cool fire-tornados together."

Semi snorts again. "That sounds like a fucking disaster."

He thinks Tendou might be amused by the snorting, 'cause he can hear his voice lift when he says, "Be the wind to my wildfire, Semi."

"The hell is that supposed to be? Flirting?"

 _"Should_ it be flirting?"

Semi opens his mouth to reply before he realizes he doesn't know how he wants to respond. _'No'_ would be the obvious answer, but it isn't what he says. Instead, he gapes, and tries to think of a way to change the subject, because that's favorable to actually questioning why there's a need for hesitation at all.

But Tendou takes notice before Semi can formulate a proper sentence.

 _"Should it?"_ he repeats, and Semi can't register what the feeling in his stomach is right now.

"That's the part where you're supposed to say, _'Just kidding!'"_ he finally gets out.

"I _was_ kidding!" Tendou assured him, and Semi almost feels relieved before Tendou continues, "But what if... I wasn't...?"

 _"Why_ would you flirt with me?"

"Because I'm bored as all fuck and trapped in your goddamn cellphone?"

Semi pulls the phone back to glare at it.

“And because, I don’t know, you’re cool. I guess…” Tendou trails off, and another brief silence hangs before he breaks it again. “And… if I was going to get stuck with anyone through all of this, I’m kinda glad it was you? Even if you were difficult and reluctant as hell from the start of this. Like, up until right now. But, I mean, I get _why,_ but you were still kinda fun to mess with? And not just because ticking you off is fun, but, I don’t know… I never _actually_ felt threatened by you literally having my life in your hands. It’s like, I somehow knew you’d come through or… something.”

Tendou sounds like he’s struggling to come up with _whatever_ words he’s searching for, and Semi lets him struggle, because he still has no idea what the proper response to any of this is.

“I guess what I’m sayin’ is, out of all the shitty phones I could’ve got stuck in, I’m glad it was yours…?”

How… romantic? What the hell was this supposed to be?

Semi doesn’t know what this is supposed to be, and he doesn’t like that just brushing it off doesn’t seem as easy as it should. He doesn’t like that this doesn’t just feel like another of Tendou’s dumb jokes. At least, he’s pretty sure he doesn’t like it. Maybe.

“So you were flirting,” he says, after the world’s longest pause.

_“For fuck’s sake, Semi.”_

“I need to know you’re not messing with me!”

“I need to know why that’s so important!”

“Because if I’m going to consider accepting that a _dead guy_ likes me, I’d like to have a little time in advance to do so!”

“You can worry about it when I’m alive and kissable!”

Semi bumps his head hard against the underside of the desk in frustration, complete with a loud groan and all. He then, of course, remembers the whole _‘we’re hiding’_ thing again, and freezes.

“No offense,” he says, once he thinks they’re still safe, edging on whispering, “but I don’t know if I can do that if your body’s all rotted or something. I don’t think I can kiss a zombie.”

“We’re going to have a fuck-ton of other problems if I’m in that condition by the time we get through this.” Tendou laughs, even if it’s mirthless. “Wait, so, you’d kiss me otherwise?”

“Buy me dinner or something first.”

“Seriously?”

“I don’t fucking know anymore,” Semi says, exasperated beyond belief. Partially because he’s legitimately, physically tired, but mostly because of… whatever turn this conversation has taken. “I also don’t know if this ghost thief is going to turn up any time soon, or if I can stay awake before he does.”

“Go to sleep, then. I’ll wake you up if he does.”

“How?” Semi has that pathetic, sleepy tone when he asks the question, and Tendou actually huffs a small laugh at it.

“I’ve got control of your volume on this thing, remember? Don’t worry, I’ll wake you up. Unlike you, I don’t require sleep.”

“Must be nice…”

“Cept that sleep was on my ‘I Miss Life’ list. ‘Cause that’s apparently a thing, now.”

Semi’s glad he’s sleep deprived, if only because he knows he wouldn’t be able to get any sleep with all of _this_ on his mind, even if he wanted to. Because, apparently, confused feelings on a ghost having a potential crush on him is _so_ much more distracting than risking his life to bring said ghost back to life.

He _does_ manage to fall asleep, curled up on the cold tile beneath the desk, sometime after eating a packet of trail mix that he had the hindsight to bring along. The last thing that goes through his head before he loses consciousness is along the lines of, _“What am I doing with my life?”_

 

* * *

 

When Tendou wakes him up, it’s not because their target has finally showed his face, or ... _not_ face, but because it’s a few hours before morning classes begin, and explaining to an instructor why Semi was sleeping under a desk is _not_ on their agenda.

Semi waits long enough for a janitor to come through, and sneaks back out the same way he came in.

He heads back to his apartment, under the assumption that the thief isn’t going to show up while classes are in session.

When he gets to said apartment, he doesn’t pay Shirabu much mind when he asks where Semi was all night. He avoids the question completely, in fact, only asking Shirabu how his head’s doing and verifying that he’s recovering well before he disappears into the comfort of his bedroom.

He falls face-first onto his bed without hesitation. There’s a groan, and a muffled, “I missed you,” and he stays like that for about a full minute after he hears a notification that he’s sure is from Tendou.

[8:54 AM] UNKNOWN: how long have u even been awake  
[8:54 AM] UNKNOWN: a few hours???  
[8:54 AM] UNKNOWN: u goin to bed already??

Semi squints one eye open at the phone, the other half of his face still smushed against his blankets.

[8:54 AM] me: if i sleep all day, i can stay up for round 2 of thief-watch.  
[8:54 AM] UNKNOWN: ok but in case u forgot  
[8:54 AM] UNKNOWN: UR still alive  
[8:54 AM] UNKNOWN: u gotta eat and shit dude  
[8:55 AM] me: i’ll eat between naps.

There’s a knock at the door, and Shirabu doesn’t wait for an answer before opening it. The ass.

“Hey,” he says, before he’s really opened it all the way, “Taichi’s going frog-egg-hunting alone again. I’m gonna ask if I can come along. You coming?”

“Not up to it.”

When Shirabu does open the door all the way, he offers a pitying look at the way Semi’s only half-laying on the bed, feet dragging against the floor and the arm that isn’t occupied with his phone flopped pathetically at his side.

“The hell did you do last night?”

Semi mumbles something into the covers, and Shirabu just rolls his eyes.

“I’m going alone and not splitting the pay with you, then.”

“Shouldn’t _you_ be resting?” Semi says, a bit more clearly when he lifts his face from the blankets to look at his roommate. _“You’re_ the one who was in the hospital.”

“And they said I’m fine, and I feel fine.” He frowns right back at Semi when he shoots him an unconvinced look. “I’ll stop if I start feeling anything unusual, alright? Geez.” Shirabu turns to leave, but pauses in the doorway at Semi’s voice.

“Wear the red jacket.”

“What?”

“The one you got on your last family trip outside of Voli?” Semi lazily pulls himself up to a sitting position on the bed. “It looks good on you. And I think I heard Taichi say he likes red once.”

Semi’s not too out of it to miss the way Shirabu’s face turns about as red as said jacket. He doesn’t get a chance to comment on it, though, because Shirabu’s leaving the room without another word. He doesn’t quite slam the door shut, to Semi’s surprise, but there’s definitely some noticeable force in the way it closes.

[9:01 AM] UNKNOWN: u r not in any position to be givin fashion advice

“Shut the fuck up,” Semi says when he sees the message, and he flops onto his back so that he’s laying with his head on the pillows and his feet up on the mattress like a normal person. “Y’know, I don’t know if I can actually sleep right now.”

[9:01 AM] UNKNOWN: get a good rest curled up on that tile?

“Not really?” Semi says with a small amount of thought. “My neck and back kinda hurt. And my legs, a little. I do feel kinda more awake now, though.” He pouts. “This sucks.”

[9:02 AM] UNKNOWN: jack off or take some cold medicine  
[9:02 AM] UNKNOWN: one or the other is bound to work

That doesn’t make Semi pout any less. “That gives some people more energy, you know.”

[9:02 AM] UNKNOWN: cold medicine?

“The sexual shit, asshole.”

[9:02 AM] UNKNOWN: really?  
[9:02 AM] UNKNOWN: u feel more awake after u jack it?

 _“I_ don’t,” Semi says, defensively, without really thinking it through. “I was just making a statement.”

[9:03 AM] UNKNOWN: ok but it doesnt apply to u so what was the point

“The point _now_ is that I’m not going to masturbate with you in my room.”

[9:03 AM] UNKNOWN: CHRIST i wasnt sayin i wanted to _watch_ or anything!

“You’ve made it perfectly clear that you might have a thing for me!”

[9:03 AM] UNKNOWN: ok 1st off “perfectly clear” & “might” r contradictions  
[9:03 AM] UNKNOWN: 2nd off ur the one who said u would maybe kiss me if i wasn’t a zombie  
[9:03 AM] UNKNOWN: if anyones makin this weird its u

“You’re the one who’s telling me to jerk off!” Semi nearly hisses, voice hushed despite knowing that Shirabu’s already left some time ago.

[9:04 AM] UNKNOWN: it was a suggestion!!!  
[9:04 AM] UNKNOWN: take the damn cold medicine if i cant watch u get off!

“So you _do_ want to watch?!”

[9:04 AM] UNKNOWN: _Fuck._

“Would you even _get_ anything out of that?” Semi asks, tilting the phone like he’s suddenly conscious of whatever embarrassed faces he’s making in the camera’s view. “It’s not like you have some kinda ghosty parts to fondle in there, right?”

[9:05 AM] UNKNOWN: if this isnt the sexiest conversation i dont know what is

“I’m so close to throwing this phone out the window.”

[9:05 AM] UNKNOWN: good  
[9:05 AM] UNKNOWN: ull have all the privacy u need  
[9:05 AM] UNKNOWN: me n my “ghosty parts” will take care of ourselves

 _“Can_ you, though?!”

[9:05 AM] UNKNOWN: no! i cant get off! i dont have a body or anything!  
[9:05 AM] UNKNOWN: add that to the list of living shit i miss:  
[9:05 AM] UNKNOWN: “humany parts” to get off with

“Why the hell would you wanna watch, then?”

[9:06 AM] UNKNOWN: shit semi i still know attractive shit when i see it

Red. His face is definitely red. Possibly-- no, _definitely_ redder than Shirabu’s was when he left. Redder than his stupid, nice, red jacket, even.

He doesn’t think he can really keep himself out of Tendou’s sight without tossing the phone under the covers, either, being that the damned thing has a camera on both sides. Still, he’s trying to angle it away, but then he can’t read Tendou’s responses, either. He’s not sure he wants to at this point.

And then the phone rings.

Like hell he’s going to answer it, or even check the caller ID, but of fucking course the thing answers itself. Rather, Tendou answers himself.

“You can’t ask me a question and then get all shy when I give an honest response!”

“I’m not _shy,”_ Semi says, voice very obviously _off_.

“You’re not…” Tendou starts, and that familiar static that always accompanies his calls is there, hardly serving as enough of a distraction, “...You aren’t _turned on,_ are you?”

 _“Hell no,”_ Semi says, maybe too quickly, and then there’s nothing but static filling his room. It’s torture. Pure, absolute torture. He’d rather listen to Shirabu’s crappy music choices than this, than to the sound of Tendou judging him, or whatever the not-quite-silence signifies.

He doesn’t know how much time actually goes by, because he _refuses_ to look at his phone to check, but eventually Tendou breaks the uncomfortable static with an intelligent, “Oh my god.”

_“Don’t.”_

“You _are.”_

“There’s _nothing_ enticing about this conversation!”

“Well _clearly_ the thought of jacking it to an audience is enticing to you, then!”

“It’s _not!”_

“Prove it.”

“That. That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Lemme see your face.”

_“Why?”_

“There’s no reason to hide it if this isn’t doin’ anything for you!”

“Tendou,” Semi says, with the phone still very intentionally angled so the ghost has nothing but a view of the walls, and _not_ Semi’s face, “I don’t need to show you my goddamn face to tell you there is _no way,_ in hell, or any version of the afterlife, that I am the _slightest_ bit interested in masturbating on camera for _anyone.”_

 

Semi Eita is a fucking liar.

It’s still daytime, and he’s still awake. The only progress he’s made on anything in the past however-long is in the sense that he’s now much more sweaty, and his hands are, frankly, a mess.

In fact, everything feels like a mess. Especially his head. Probably because listening to Tendou encourage him in breathy whispers (which _had_ to be intentional, because he’s pretty sure a ghost can’t get legitimately breathy) while he touched himself was the last direction he expected his night to go in.

Getting voice-fucked by a dead man was _not_ on his to-do list.

It wasn’t, but it happened.

It happened, and he doesn’t want to stay up thinking about it for the rest of the day.

He opts for the cold medicine.

 

* * *

 

Semi sneaks into class the second night the same way he did the first. Now he's under the desk again, but this time with more snacks, water, and a book to keep himself occupied. The jar is still on the shelf, so he hopes that means the thief is still featherless.

[9:03 PM] UNKNOWN: _we're in_  
[9:03 PM] me: don't say it like we just broke into an expensive vault.  
[9:03 PM] UNKNOWN: ill say it however i want  
[9:03 PM] UNKNOWN: u think hes gonna show?  
[9:04 PM] me: i hope so…

Because he _really_ doesn’t want to have to do this more than two nights in a row.

[9:04 PM] me: the weekend starts tomorrow.  
[9:04 PM] UNKNOWN: u could just say “its friday”  
[9:04 PM] UNKNOWN: tgif  
[9:04 PM] me: i meant there probably won’t be class tomorrow, dipshit.  
[9:04 PM] me: i mean, someone might use the classroom for a club or project or something...  
[9:04 PM] me: i don’t know.  
[9:04 PM] me: but otherwise this place is wide open for our thief.  
[9:04 PM] me: not that i think he’ll come out in broad daylight.  
[9:04 PM] UNKNOWN: it was daytime when the thing at saekos happened  
[9:05 PM] me: fuck.  
[9:05 PM] UNKNOWN: but i mean yeah  
[9:05 PM] UNKNOWN: now would be a smarter time since its abandoned AND dark

The thief better think so, too, because Semi is _not_ thrilled about the idea of sticking around here all day long.

[9:05 PM] UNKNOWN: not much do besides wait and find out i guess  
[9:05 PM] UNKNOWN: u know what we can do tho?  
[9:05 PM] UNKNOWN: u know whats maybe worth discussin?  
[9:05 PM] UNKNOWN: that thing earlier today

Semi offers his most disappointed look.

[9:06 PM] me: nothing happened worth discussing today.  
[9:06 PM] UNKNOWN: ok ouch  
[9:06 PM] UNKNOWN: r u gonna make me wait til im alive to sort this out  
[9:06 PM] me: it happened, and that’s that.  
[9:06 PM] me: don’t you have your gray men to read?  
[9:06 PM] UNKNOWN: (im not correcting u this time)  
[9:06 PM] UNKNOWN: also u said u wouldnt kiss me unless i took u out first  
[9:06 PM] UNKNOWN: but idk dont u think letting me watch u get off is kinda  
[9:06 PM] UNKNOWN: skippin a few steps there???  
[9:07 PM] me: i cannot tell you how much i would love to save this conversation for another time.

The phone vibrates, and Semi ends the incoming call before it can begin without a second thought.

That happens about two more times before Tendou shoots another text.

[9:10 PM] UNKNOWN: r u fuckin with me right now  
[9:10 PM] UNKNOWN: o wait  
[9:10 PM] me: we are not having this discussion here.  
[9:10 PM] UNKNOWN: do u usually run away from ur feelings

Semi takes a moment to think up a response, and the most he can come up with is a dumbfounded _"oh my god."_

He doesn't get to type of out, though. He's too distracted by the shaking of the glass case in front of him.

He gapes, and slowly lifts the phone so the movement is in view of its camera.

[9:11 PM] me: stay on silent. don't give us away.

He realizes that maybe their talking through the previous night was a bad idea, now that he typed that out, but what's important is that their target is right here in front of them _now._

The glass shatters with a blast of magic, or _whatever_ it is this ghost has been blasting things with all this time. Semi half-expects alarms to sound, but then he remembers that they're in a school, not some high security museum.

For the most part, the glass just falls to the floor in front of him, but some pieces fly and skid out beneath the desk, and he tries not to react to the fresh scratches and slices he gets from them.

Instead, he tries to stay still, tries not to drop the phone he’s still pointing at the scene, and watches as an invisible figure floats its way into view, still draped with belts strung with bags of potions and powders, no longer hidden by a cloak.

Semi realizes he’s holding his breath, and he wishes he hadn’t, because now he’s self-conscious about it. It’s a struggle that he’s very much aware of, trying not to make a sound as the ghost takes the jar of phoenix feathers into its possession.

It’s too easy, Semi thinks, the way they just appeared and smashed their way to what they needed like it was nothing.

But he’s not going to let it stay that easy. He hopes.

The figure tugs the drawstring to one of the cloth bags at its side (Semi’s not sure if it’s their side, or front, or what) loose, and from it, withdraws the same shards of glass as the last time, all of them suspended by string, and all of them already emitting the tell-tale glow of a portal.

There’s a flash, and Semi stumbles out from under the desk and into the light in more of a hurry than he’s ever been in for anything in his entire life. Or, at least maybe second to the time he was chased by bees as a kid.

But he stumbles into something hard, like a wall, and the vertigo it causes leaves him wondering if he made it through at all, or just ran right past the damn thing and into the now-shattered case of potion supplies.

Everything is spinning to much to tell, at first. He tries to blink away the dizziness, and just when he thinks he’s missed his only window, he comes to realize that the ceiling he’s staring at isn’t that of the academy classroom at all.

He doesn’t know what this ceiling is, but he does know that he’s on his back, and it doesn’t _feel_ like he’s laying in a layer of broken glass, thank goodness. He’s also aware that he’s still clutching his cellphone for dear life.

He’s not holding his breath anymore. He’s breathing too heavily, in fact, like his body is trying to recover from a fall or a bad case of whiplash. It’s then, as he slowly sits himself up to take in his new surroundings, that he recognizes the dizziness and tingling in his body as the side effects of portal travel. He’s felt this before, even if a little less strongly, all the times he’s gone back and forth between Voli and his birth-world to visit family.

What is less familiar than that feeling, is the dark room he’s sitting in. Its walls are faded with age, but he can only tell that much by the one right in front of his face. Presumably what he ran into upon arrival. He doesn’t see any blood on it, and it doesn’t feel like he’s injured himself too badly, so, that’s good.

But, then, he doesn’t _see_ much of anything. There are no windows, no lights, as far as he can tell, except for the faint glow coming from behind him. He can barely process that, though, because another wave of things assaults his senses first.

The room is filled with an almost oppressive feeling that Semi can’t quite place, but he doesn’t think it’s entirely _new,_ either. It’s terrifying. Dark. Furious.

He then remembers one of Tendou’s texts. _“I told you that guy smelled like death.”_ The _room_ smells like death, too. It’s all so overwhelming, the amount of not-quite-magic, but _something_ horrible combined with the smell. It’s overpowering, and Semi wants nothing more than to lean over and throw up until the whites of his eyes turn red. And that’s not exactly something he, or any sane person, would _usually_ wish for.

Swallowing back what was undoubtedly almost going to be the first round of vomit, he dares to turn his head, and what he sees is a faint flickering a ways across the room. It looks like candles, but they’re so far away, and the room is so _long._ Long, empty, probably abandoned, if the state of the walls are anything to go by. Or, at least abandoned until recently.

He hasn’t been looking for long before the view of the candles suddenly distorts, and he realizes too late that the distortion is the ghost approaching him. They’re right in front of his face, and he thinks for a moment that he sees the faint outline of livid eyes before he's sent flying back into the wall.

He expects a sickening crack or for his vision to give out completely, but neither happens, and instead he's left sitting on the floor with a sore back and neck as the ghost hovers closer still.

Semi draws his wand out from his pocket, and summons forth the image of a moth and a raging wind that sends the ghost flying back a few feet.

And then, without thinking it through like a smarter person might, Semi sprints past the ghost and toward the candles at the other end of the room, gripping his phone in one hand and wand in the other like they're his only remaining lifelines.

Another light illuminates the space around his feet, and then his face as he turns the phone's screen toward himself. Tendou's staticy voice breaks through the cloud of death flooding Semi's senses.

_"I might have noticed a flaw in our plan!"_

_"Really?"_ Semi asks, without a speck of surprise. His legs feel like they could break with how fast he's moving.

"If we could get him to start the ritual, we could interrupt it and get me in there!" Tendou’s voice seems to rise and fall in volume, but Semi realizes that it could just be from the way he's swinging his arms as he runs. "That's probably our best bet!"

"They sure as hell aren't gonna do that while we're here!" And certainly not when the ghost can hear them discussing this so loudly.

"I'm starting to second guess the whole _'just flying into it'_ thing!"

"Just _now?!"_

He can see what the candles are surrounding now, and it doesn't exactly surprise him.

There, laying on the cement floor, covered in drawings of symbols that Semi only recognizes half of, is the body of a twenty-something year old with spiked up red hair that would probably be blinding in better lighting. There are more drawings on the floor beneath the body, circling it along with the precise placement of tiny bone-colored stones.

The good news is, Tendou's body doesn't _look_ like a corpse. His skin looks healthy enough, from what Semi can judge by the candle light. It looks almost preserved, in fact. No visual signs of rotting or maggots or anything to make him want to vomit more than he already does. The foul odor that’s _very much there_ is another story.

"You'd better hurry up and do _something,"_ Semi says, desperate and swallowing back another oncoming hurl.

Tendou doesn’t get to do something, because the other ghost in the room, the one that _isn’t_ taking up residence in Semi’s phone, knocks Semi away from the body with another force wave.

Semi gracelessly rolls across the hard floor until he lands on his front, face reddened and a little more wet than it was before, now that he’s practically skidded along the ground. He pushes himself up, or tries to, but the ghost is there, kneeling or leaning or doing _something_ to bring what Semi thinks might be a face closer to his own.

Still no physical form, no distinct features to make out, and when he looks through the ghost, he only sees distortion where it should be. It’s like watching heat rise off the street on an unbearable summer day, except that he can’t run inside and plop himself in front of a fan to escape this horror.

He can’t move. He can’t keep himself from staring at the blurred space. He can see them better now, though, the two ovalish spaces within all of the distortion that are slightly less distorted than everything else. Enough to be noticeable, at least. Enough that they almost have an outline, and Semi’s almost positive they’re meant to be eyes.

He’s lost in them, and the longer he looks, the heavier the weight of the deathly aura settles on his back, and the harder his head throbs.

The pressure is incredible, like someone’s beating at his head with a lead pipe, and it’s accompanied by the growing sound of buzzing hornets. It’s enough to forcefully rip out a yell from the back of Semi’s throat.

It’s so much that he doesn’t register Tendou screaming from his phone, his yells crackling with the static and barely making it over the volume of Semi’s own.

_“Wand, Semi! You have a fucking wand!”_

But Semi doesn’t react right away. He’s still screaming, and believing with every shivering part of him that he’s soon to be just another body right there with Tendou’s, up until there’s blood running from his nose, over his lips and down his chin in a steady drip. It’s then that his loosening hold of the wand tightens again, and he swings his arm forward with a gust strong enough to blow a small car over.

The distortion in front of him grows smaller as the ghost’s “body” blows back, making the view of the transparent hornets multiplying and filling the room all the more clear.

Semi clumsily gets to his feet, but not without swaying and stumbling back once he’s off the floor.

He’s trying to catch his breath, to lessen the soreness in his throat caused by the screaming, when he sees something else in the air. The room is filled with a purple-ish dust, some of which is collected in small piles and trails on the floor in front of him, but most of it has been stirred up in clouds thanks to his wind.

His mind’s a haze, but he has the sense to cover his mouth and nose, both of which are slick with his own blood now.

The ghost rises among the hornets, and Semi can only tell by the bottles and bags hanging about it. One bag is floating separate from the belts and strings holding the others together, and it’s drawn open, empty. Whatever is filling the air now has to have come from it.

The phone screen is still lit, but Tendou switches the flashlight on as well for a clearer view.

“This looks like an experiment a classmate of mine did once,” comes Tendou’s voice.

Semi would glare at the phone if he weren’t too focused - or not so focused - on other things.

Tendou goes on, “If it’s the same thing, the more you stir up and aggravate this stuff, the more dangerous it’s gonna get!”

That’s nice to know and all, but the damn bugs all look like they’re locked onto Semi now. He breathes in out of desperation, but his nose and mouth are pressed hard into his sleeve when he does.

Tendou shouts at him when he summons the moth to his side.

_“I’m saying you can’t use wind, dipshit!”_

Semi stills, as does the moth, and the hornest all come charing at once.

“You have other magic, you can still fight-- Semi for fucks sake _MOVE OUT OF THE WAY.”_

But his legs aren’t moving, and this is no different than the time at Saeko’s, except that he doesn’t know if it’s safe to breathe, and his head is still pounding, and there’s no Shirabu or griffon to come to his aid.

Tendou shouts something, and it’s not Japanese. Semi recognizes it as a spell, and he utters the same words into his sleeve with a flick of the wand. A thin wall forms in front of Semi. It’s weak, not nearly as vibrant as the ones he’s seen Shirabu create with his beads.

“You can breathe, alright? As long as we don’t aggravate the shit floating in the air any further, we’re fine!”

Semi steps back, drawing in a giant, well-deserved breath. “What happens if we do?” he finally manages, voice almost hoarse.

“The guy I knew blew out a classroom wall. So, not advised. Especially not near my fucking body!”

“How am I supposed to fight this thing without my wind, then?!”

“You know other spells!”

“The moth can’t strengthen those!”

“I’m sure you can pull something off with regular-strength magic!” Tendou sounds frantic. Understandably so. “And quit shaking! Those bugs? They aren’t _real,_ Semi! They’re just apparitions!”

That doesn’t stop Semi from stumbling back when the hornets throw themselves at the wall of magic.

“They can’t hurt you!” Tendou tries again, “He can’t hurt you!”

The blood covering Semi’s face says otherwise.

“Those bugs can’t strengthen shit if he doesn’t have a body to use real magic with! You can handle a few ghost blasts and concoctions!”

Any other day, Semi would had loved to make another remark about how lame “ghost blast” sounds. Come another day, he probably will, if he makes it out of this alive.

He’s not so confident right now that he will.

It’s true, though, that the hornets are doing nothing to break down the wall. The fact would be more comforting if they would just disappear altogether so Semi doesn’t have to keep looking at them, though.

But maybe if Semi had been a little less distracted by that, he might’ve seen the ghost approaching close behind the insects.

A wave of the invisible force hits hard against the wall, and Semi can feel the vibration through the solid floor beneath his feet. Another hits soon after that, and then another, and soon they’re coming in quick succession. He can see the dust on the other side of the wall stirring with every hit, a noticeable contrast to how it’s already settling on his and Tendou’s side. The side that the corpse is still laying on, taunting the spirit in Semi’s phone.

“Any ideas?” Semi asks, and he wipes some blood from his nose and chin onto his sleeve. He thinks it might still be dripping, but it’s definitely not as much as before. The pounding in his head has settled to a lightheadedness instead, which may or may not be an improvement.

The static is frantic, not nearly as steady as usual. Semi wonders if it’s just from Tendou trying to think up a quick plan, or if his nearby body has something to do with it.

“Put the phone by my body.”

“You’re gonna leave me to deal with this thing on my own?!” Semi asks, and he both hears and feels the wall of magic crack. He seriously wishes he had someone with Shirabu’s defensive skills here right now.

“We can’t get him to do the ritual while we’re here, so I have to try it the same way I got into your phone!”

“You don’t even know if you can get _out_ of the phone!”

“I think I can! I just… don’t know if I can get back _in_ if this fails.”

Semi shoots a look at the body, then to the ghost that’s making more and more progress with breaking down his wall. He doesn’t even know if he can hold it up much longer even without the disturbance.

With another deep inhale, Semi turns on his heel and bolts for the body, candles still flickering and illuminating the eerie stillness of the corpse.

“If I can make this work, you won’t have to fight this bastard alone!”

_‘I need you to make it work even if I can fight them alone.’_

Semi doesn’t say it, but he slides to his knees, stopping just before he can smudge up any of the markings already placed on the floor. He sets the phone down just outside of the circle, screen up.

“Stall for me!”

Semi nods, and no sooner does he feel his wall shatter to nothing. He whips around, and he can see the distortion racing for him, surrounded by hornets, another bag of something coming undone at its side.

No wind. Ok. Cool. He can fight some other way. Going hand-to-hand with a ghost doesn’t sound like a very smart move, though, so that’s out of the question. The increasing buzzing is making it harder to think of an alternative, though. Not to mention, it’s making his skin prickle.

“Had to be a goddamn bug,” he mutters, and darts for the invisible being rushing toward him. His wand’s at the ready, and the tip is dotted with a bright light now that he’s without a phone light.

He squints, trying to judge the ghost’s exact location through the dust and darkness and insects. He thinks he’s figured it out, partially because the pressure in his head is increasing the closer he gets. He steps to the side, extends his wand, and utters a spell that coats the wooden stick in something hot and bright. He drags it across the body, or lack thereof, or whatever one would call it, and the spell crackles like firewood as it cuts through.

First, whatever powder the thing was holding goes flying, mixing with what’s already in the air.

Second, the belt keeping all of the potions and powders together tears apart and falls from the ghost to the floor. The glasses shatter and their contents splash about the ground, along with whatever powders were left.

The result is a bright flash and a loud, thunderous sound that clears the room of its buzzing and static. There’s heat, but it’s different from the kind Semi conjured with his wand, and it bites at his body like a starved animal. A starved animal with teeth made of hot coals, perhaps.

He yells again, but, impressively, it’s not quite as loud and pained as the sensation he got from being too close to the ghost. His nose is bleeding again from getting close enough to slice at it, but that’s not as much of a concern right now.

What’s more of a concern, now that he’s on his hands and knees a ways off, coughing out what bits of that cloud made its way to his lungs, is that he’s pretty sure there are actual burn marks covering him now. His back, his arms, his face, everything feels hot, but everything from the waist up feels worse than the rest.

He looks up, across the room to the candles. Some have flickered out completely, but it seems that the setup was just out of reach of the explosion.

The next thing on his problem list, he realizes, is that the ghost is going to be much harder to track without its arsenal of magical items strapped to them.

He looks over his shoulder, at the cloud that’s yet to settle. He can see scorch marks stretching across the floor from beneath it, but he can’t see where Tendou’s body thief is hiding.

Fantastic.

He tries to stand, but another wave pushes him flat on his stomach. Then there’s _something_ else pressing him down. It’s the same feeling of _death,_ but it also feels like someone is holding him there. There’s no actual feeling of skin touching him, no sense of mass, but the space above him is icy cold, and the temperature is dropping in specific areas on his arms in the vague shape of hands.

After that explosion, he’s not so sure it matters how much he stirs up the area anymore. He’d already made one stupid move by coming here, and another by charging at an armed fucking ghost. What was one more to the list?

A moth appears before him, small and unassuming, but soon one becomes three, then six, then twelve. Eventually there are enough to match the swarm of hornets, all of them varied in size. The words he whispers are not Semi’s usual wind spell, and they conjure not a simple gust, but a swirl of wind that builds above them until it’s become something greater.

The tornado grows, just big enough to fling the weight holding him down away, but small enough to remain within the room.

Semi saves questioning ghost physics for later, and scrambles to his feet. Even as he runs for Tendou’s corpse, the moths and winds continue raging behind him.

_“Tendou?”_

“I’m working on it!”

It doesn’t look like anything has changed, aside from the few blown-out candles.

“How about we just grab your body and _run?”_

“You gonna drag me out while you look like _that?!”_

Semi looks more like death than Tendou’s corpse does, and he really can’t argue with that, even without a mirror. He can feel it all just fine.

“I can’t just jump in and control it like I do with your phone! I need some sort of link!”

“The hell am I supposed to do with that information?!” Semi asks, frantically glancing back at the still-turning tornado. “We’re running out of time! You’re sure just jumping in isn’t working? Are you trying hard enough?!”

“You think I’m gonna half-ass this?!” There’s a ton of crackling coming from the phone, more than Semi’s accustomed to. “It’s a human body, Semi! It-- I used to be alive! I can’t just control it like a puppet, apparently!”

They both kind of suspected that would happen, but Semi had hoped that he’d at least be able to get control long enough to get out of here and come up with a long-term fix.

He turns away from the winds, and watches the body, breathing in and regretting it when the stench of death fills his senses. He steps back and bites his lip.

“You were researching this stuff on my phone. You knew about the feathers and everything they’d need,” he says, and pauses before offering, “Tell me how to do it.”

“Do _what?”_

“The ritual.”

“No,” Tendou says, with a hint of finality, “I promised you weren’t gonna have to do this part.”

“Well I’m telling you I’ll do it _now.”_

“I’m not involving you more than I have!”

“And I’m not losing you before I get the chance to meet you face to face!” Semi all but shouts, “We don’t have _time_ for this, Tendou! So get to instructing me so we can get the fuck out of here!”

There’s a pause, but Tendou does just that.

He tells him where to place the feathers, tells him what remaining symbols he _thinks_ need to be drawn out. Semi re-lights the candles and moves the phone to where Tendou guides him, and he draws around that, too, linking it to the circle surrounding his body.

“Hey, Semi?”

“Yeah,” Semi says, not quite asks, voice shaking like it’s about to fall out of him for good.

“I owe you my life.”

“Yeah,” Semi repeats, “I know.”

Tendou actually snorts, and the static rises with the sound. Semi steps back, wand outstretched to the two combined circles. He closes his eyes and begins to whisper the words Tendou told him. They’re foreign, not like any he’s used in previous spells, and it almost stings just to get them out his mouth.

But he says them. He repeats them, over and over until he can feel a tingling coming from the direction of the circles. Each and every time he repeats the words, he can feel his hold on the wind spell weakening, can feel the number of moths dwindling from across the room.

But he keeps it up, pressing his eyes shut tighter as the magic drains him and gifts him with another wonderful nosebleed.

He doesn’t know how many times he’s repeated the spell when it happens, but a new pressure builds in his head, and it forces his hold of the wind spell free.

He feels a sizzle in the back of his head as the moths disappear, and the tornado disappears with a violent gust that just makes it to the back of his neck. He manages to deflect it enough from disrupting the circle, but he can’t control much else outside of the ritual at this point.

And it’s so much that it brings him to his knees. He keeps his eyes closed, afraid that another distraction could cost him his-- cost him _Tendou’s_ life.But the tornado is gone, and the enemy is probably coming his way.

He pushes the thought aside, utters the spell another time, feels it burning the tip of his tongue and slicing the edges of his lips as the words escape.

A loud _pop_ fills the room, and it’s mixed with sounds of shattering glass and something sizzling. Semi feels too many things at once. He feels like he’s on fire, he feels the ghost quickly approaching from behind, he feels something building up inside him until he manages to choke and snort out blood from his mouth and nose.

He feels himself falling forward, unable to get the spell out another time.

He feels arms catching him.

They’re cold. Not as cold as the ghost, but cold, and there’s the unmistakable sensation of skin against skin as they cradle him close.

He hears a voice. He can’t quite put together what they’re saying. His brain just doesn’t want to cooperate anymore.

But the voice is familiar.

Just void of the static he’s used to hearing with it.

 

* * *

 

When Semi opens his eyes, he isn’t met with a dark, necromancy-tainted room.

He’s, instead, met with the familiar, bland, white walls of his apartment. Of his bedroom.

He doesn’t feel or smell death nearby, and he doesn’t hear the buzzing of hornets, either.

What he does hear, is someone tapping away on something, and he turns his head to find that someone sitting on the edge of his bed, cellphone in hand, and red hair standing up impressively high.

Semi stares. He blinks a few times before managing, “Am I dead?”

The guy pauses in his tapping, looks at him with wide eyes. Ridiculously wide eyes, Semi notes. But then the guy laughs, and it’s _loud._

And there’s no static or crackling to interrupt it, so everything feels even less real, but he _knows_ that laugh. And he _knows_ this person’s face by what he’s seen online.

“I’m… not dead…” he trails off, and the guy shakes his head, clearly amused. “But it… the spell… it worked…? You’re alive?”

Tendou grins at him, but Semi still feels to exhausted and confused to return the gesture.

“But the ghost?” He watches Tendou’s expression before he rephrases, “The not-you ghost.”

“I think the coward decided two-on-one were pretty bad odds.” Tendou sets the phone down on the bedstand. “That’s a guess. Hell if I really know. Not like they ever spoke or anything. They fled, though. Probably off to find some other body…”

“They just… left.”

“Well, okay, they left after I nearly burned my own arm off trying to fight them. Your wand, by the way? I don’t know what yours is made of, but it does _not_ click with my magic.”

“Okay…” Semi says, not quite sounding like he’s properly taking all of this in yet. “Wait, did you _drag_ me back here? From… where _was_ that place?”

“An abandoned hangar, apparently.” Tendou kicks his legs idly at the side of the bed. “And I might have, uh, called your roommate for help? With my phone. Not yours. I remembered the number, and yours kinda, uh…” He tilts his head, searching for a way to let him down easy. “...exploded? During the ritual? And I might’ve burned the remains since it was evidence and-- don’t look at me like that! It was already beyond saving! I’ll buy you a new one!”

Semi still glares at him anyway. “You dragged Shirabu into this?”

“And his not-boyfriend boyfriend guy, yeah. They’re probably gonna harass you for an explanation later, so, sorry.” He looks just slightly nervous under Semi’s continued glaring. “The ghost was already gone by then! I just needed a healer and someone to help get you back here. I couldn’t call any _official_ medical help when we both reeked of illegal magic.” He’s down to just kicking one leg, and he bites his lip. “Which, uh, you really didn’t need to do.”

“No, I didn’t.” Semi tries to sit himself up, wincing at some of the injuries that Shirabu apparently either missed or couldn’t mend all the way. Tendou moves like he’s going to try to force him back down, or at least say something, but Semi raises a hand to stop him.

He gets somewhat comfortable, leaning back against the pillows, and he turns to Tendou. His eyes skim the other’s appearance, from his hair, to his eyes, his lips, and all over. “You don’t look like a rotting zombie.”

Tendou laughs. “I don’t feel like one. I mean, something does feel _off,_ but I’m probably just re-adjusting. I hope.” He looks down at his hands and wiggles his fingers. “I can touch things again, Semi! I can eat again! I can--”

“You can do a lot now.”

“It’s fucking _awesome.”_

“You know what you can do? Since you’re not a gross zombie?”

Tendou studies him for a long moment, then narrows his eyes in a knowing grin. “You said I had to take you to dinner first.”

“I think after the phone sex, that’s kinda shot out the window,” Semi says with a huff.

“If you wanted to kiss me, you could just do it.”

“I just brought you back from the dead,” Semi says, flatly, but then his lips quirk in the smallest of smirks. “So, _thank me.”_

And Tendou does just that.

**Author's Note:**

> And Semi still never found out why he shouldn't let the frog lick him.


End file.
